Trichosanthes borneensis Cogn.

Species

Angiosperms > Cucurbitales > Cucurbitaceae > Trichosanthes

Characteristics

Climber, 6(-20) m long, finely brown hairy, early glabrescent, leafy stem 2-5 mm diam.; dioecious. Probract narrowly elliptic, 5-18 by 1-2 mm, glands absent. Tendrils 2-or 3-branched. Leaves: petiole 2.5-8 cm long; blade brown or green on drying, membranous, simple, deeply 3-5(-7)-lobed, (1/2-)9/10 deep, in outline broadly ovate or circular, 7-23 by 7.5-23 cm, scabrous above, usually smooth beneath, glands few (sometimes absent), situated at the base near the insertion of the petiole, 1-3 mm diam., cystoliths obvious, margin entire or towards the base of the outer lobes coarsely dentate or dentate-sinuate; veins 3-5(-7), straight. Male raceme occasionally with a single male flower co-axillary at the node, finely pubescent; peduncle 2-11(-13) cm long, 3-5 mm thick; rachis somewhat thickened, 6-30 cm long, 3-5(-10) mm thick, including thickened bract-scars, 10-20(-50)-flowered; bracts late-caducous, narrowly or broadly ovate, or rhomboid, (10-)20-50 by 6-30 mm, margin irregularly sharply incised or dentate to 5 mm deep, glands absent. Male flowers: pedicel 3-5 mm long (c. 25 mm long in solitary flowers), caducous; receptacle-tube 40-70 mm long, at throat 5-9 mm wide; sepals narrowly triangular or lanceolate, 6-16 mm long, 1.5-3 mm wide at base, entire or minutely narrowly lobed; petals obovate or rhomboid, c. 15 mm long, threads 7-11 mm long; synandrium 7-11 mm long, anthers fused, filaments glabrous, 3-4 mm long. Female flowers not known. Fruit ripening orange-red, paler speckled or faintly striped, (depressed-)globose, 3.5-10 by 5-9 cm, apex obtuse (not beaked); exocarp woody, c. 1 mm thick, smooth; pericarp juicy, c. 10 mm thick (dry pericarp ± vanished); pulp green-black, bitter; fruiting pedicel (2.5-)3.5-8 cm long, 5-15 mm thick, 2-coloured, the distal part orange-red and smooth, (0.5-)1(-2) cm long, the remaining part green and grooved. Seeds black, compressed, (narrowly) elliptic, 13-20 by 5-7 by 3 mm, base truncate or ± obtuse, apex obtuse, margin faint, edge entire.
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Growth form herb
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Mature height (meter) 6.0
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Hardiness (USDA) 10-12

Usage

UsesUsed as a medicine (Gimlette s.n., Peninsular Malaysia); the tuberous root is incorporated in dart poison (Gadoh anak Umbai KL 1771).
Uses medicinal poison
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Cultivation

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Germination duration (days) 14 - 30
Germination temperacture (C°) 18 - 23
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Distribution

Trichosanthes borneensis world distribution map, present in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:294156-1
WFO ID wfo-0000408014
COL ID 58JKT
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Trichosanthes borneensis Anguina bornensis