Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt

Description:

Kampung Akar Peluru, Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia.Coccinia grandis (L.) Voigt. Cucurbitaceae. CN: [Malay - Pepasan, Timun tikus], Ivy gourd, Little gourd. Native to most pantropics; elsewhere naturalized or cultivated. Human food (leaves and fruit), forage, folk medicine; weed. Dioecious perennial herbaceous vine. Stems mostly glabrous, produced annually from a tuberous rootstock; tendrils simple, axillary. Leaves alternate, simple, blade broadly ovate, 5-lobed, 5-9 x 49 cm, acute and mucronate at the apex, cordate with a broad sinus at the base; surfaces glabrous or scaly, with 3-8 glands near the base; margins denticulate; petiole 15 cm long. Inflorescence usually of solitary, axillary flowers. Calyx of 5 subulate, recurved lobes 2-5mm long on the hypanthium; peduncle 15 cm long. Corolla campanulate, white, 3-4.5 cm long, deeply divided into 5 ovate lobes. Stamens 3, present as staminodes in female flowers. Ovary inferior. Fruit a smooth, bright red, ovoid to ellipsoid berry 2.56 cm long. Shoots blanched and cooked as lesser vegetables. Fruit edible but rather unpalatable with strong bitter taste. Synonym(s):Coccinia cordifolia auct.Coccinia indica Wight & Arn.Ref and suggested reading:www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?10974en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccinia_grandis