Trichosanthes elmeri Merr.

Species

Angiosperms > Cucurbitales > Cucurbitaceae > Trichosanthes

Characteristics

Climber, 5-10 m long, early glabrescent, at first minutely brown hairy, stem 2-4 mm diam.; dioecious. Probract concave, 5-7 by 3-6 mm, glands present. Tendrils 2-(or 3-)branched. Leaves: petiole 3-6 cm long; petiolules 0.3-1 cm long; blade greenish on drying, chartaceous or subcoriaceous, rarely simple, 3-or 5-foliolate, middle leaflet obovate-oblong, 8.5-18 by 3.5-8.5 cm, scabrous above, glands few or several, scattered, c. 0.5 mm diam., cystoliths obvious, base cuneate, margin ± recurved, entire or obscurely or sometimes coarsely dentate, lateral leaflets ± smaller and unequal-sided; veins few, pinnate, or in simple leaves 3-5 from the base. Male raceme 10-30 cm long, minutely brown hairy; peduncle 3-10 cm long, 2-3 mm thick; rachis not thickened (except enlarged nodes), 7-20 cm long, 5-15-flowered; bracts late-caducous, (ob)ovate, 15-30 by (5-)8-12 mm, margin coarsely incised to c. 1/4 deep, glands present. Male flowers: pedicel 3-5 mm long, caducous; receptacle-tube c. 50 mm long, at throat 7-8 mm wide; sepals narrowly elliptic, 10-14 mm long, 3-4 mm wide at base, entire; expanded petals not seen; synandrium 13-14 mm long, filaments glabrous, c. 3 mm long. Female flowers: pedicel 2-10 mm long; ovary glabrous, (narrowly) ellipsoid, ± fusiform, c. 25 by 6 mm; receptacle-tube c. 30 mm long, at throat 6 mm wide; sepals narrowly elliptic, c. 10 mm long, 2-3 mm wide at base, entire; expanded petals not seen. Fruit ripening orange-red, often paler striped, (narrowly) ovoid or ovoid-ellipsoid, 12-20 by 5-10 cm, apex c. 4 mm beaked; exocarp leathery, smooth; pericarp firm-carnose, dry pericarp c. 10 mm thick; pulp blackish green, bitter; fruiting pedicel 0.5-1.5(-3) cm long, 4-9 mm thick. Seeds blackish brown, compressed, (narrowly) or broadly ovate, or subcircular, 16-20 by 11-20 by 3-4.5 mm, base subtruncate, apex ± acute or obtuse, margin broad but obscure, edge entire.
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Growth form herb
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Mature height (meter) 5.0 - 10.0
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Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

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Edible -
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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 elmeri world distribution map, present in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:294188-1
WFO ID wfo-0000407963
COL ID 58JM3
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Trichosanthes elmeri