Coccinia pwaniensis
| Coccinia pwaniensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Cucurbitales |
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Genus: | Coccinia |
| Species: | C. pwaniensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Coccinia pwaniensis | |
Coccinia pwaniensis is an East African species of Coccinia that was first described in 2010.
Description
[edit]Perennial, dioecious climber. Shoot length up to 3 m. Young shoots are glabrous and green and later make a grey to reddish-grey bark. Leaves are alternate with 0.6 to 4.1 cm long petiole, lamina 2–10 × 2.7–11.4 cm, shallowly to profoundly 3-lobate (rarely 5-lobate). Upper lamina glabrous with clear to whitish pustules. Lower lamina and petiole with sparse hairs that appear wart-like when broken off. Tendrils simple. Probracts 2–3 mm long.
Flowers in male plants in long many-flowered racemes, in female plants solitary. Calyx with 5 very acute ("subulate"), 2.5–3.5 mm long lobes. Corolla 1.7–2.6 cm long, pale yellowish-orange. Stamens in male flowers 3, combined to a single column. Anthers sinuate, in a globose head. Fruits short cylindrical, 6.2–8.0 cm long and 1.8–2.3 cm in diameter. Seeds 6.5–7.0 × 4.0–4.5 × ca. 1.5 mm (L/W/H), symmetrically obovate, face lenticular.
Distribution
[edit]Coccinia pwaniensis occurs along the margins of northern East African coastal forests in SE Kenya, E and NE Tanzania.
Etymology
[edit]The epithet is derived from the Swahili word for "coast", referring to the distribution of the species.
Hybridization
[edit]The species is known to produce sterile hybrids with Coccinia grandis in the wild.
References
[edit]- Holstein, N.; Renner, S.S. (2010). "Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae) gains two new species from East Africa, three new synonyms, and one new combination". Kew Bulletin. 65 (3): 435–441. doi:10.1007/s12225-010-9229-9. S2CID 41294663.
- Holstein, N. (2015). "Monograph of Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae)". PhytoKeys (54): 1–166. doi:10.3897/phytokeys.54.3285. PMC 4547038. PMID 26312043.