Trichosanthes cucumerina Linnaeus (1753: 1008)

Umoh, Omodot Timothy & Bassey, Margaret Emmanuel, 2021, Morphology and distribution of species of the family Cucurbitaceae in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, Phytotaxa 508 (2), pp. 107-128 : 122

11. Trichosanthes cucumerina Linnaeus (1753: 1008) ( Fig. 13 )

Synonyms:— Anguina cucumerina (L.) Kuntze (1891: 254).

Cucumis anguinus Linnaeus (1763: 1437) .

Local Name: —Tomatos Uduk ikot (Annang and Ibibio).

Common Name: —Snake gourd.

Habitat: —Cultivated farmland, but also grows on fences.

Description: —Herb, climbing by means of tendrils. Stem herbaceous, angular, pubescent, 0.5–0.6 cm diam.; tendrils 3-fid. Leaves simple, alternately arranged, petiolate, dentate, acute, palmately lobed with 3 or 5 lobes, glabrous adaxially, pubescent abaxially, 5–20 × 4–15 cm; petiole cylindrical, green, 4–15 cm long. Infloresscence an axillary raceme, 10–15 cm long. Flowers pentamerous, pedicellate, with bracts, bears both stamen and pistil; sepals pubescent; corolla with free petals, white, glabrous, opens at night, coils in day with tendril-like edges; pedicel 0.5–1.0 cm long. Fruit green and chalky, variable in shape, mostly cylindrical, elongated like snake, 20–120 cm long, glabrous, pubescent towards stalk, with many seed borne in reddish pulp. Seed irregular in shape, 0.5–1.0 × 0.5 cm.

Location in Akwa Ibom:— Obot Akara, Ikot Ekpene, Uyo, and Mkpat Enin.

Abundance:— It existed in 27% of the sampling areas and was rare in these areas.

Figures

FIGURE 13. Trichosanthes cucumerina. A. Fruiting plant in habitat. B. Morphological features showing (A) Seed. (B) Leaf. (C) Fruit. (D) Flower. (E) Tendrils.