Coccinia pwaniensis Holstein, Kew Bull. 65(3): 435. 2010 [publ. 1 Jan 2011].

Holstein, Norbert, 2015, Monograph of Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae), PhytoKeys 54, pp. 1-166 : 99-101

16. Coccinia pwaniensis Holstein, Kew Bull. 65(3): 435. 2010 [publ. 1 Jan 2011].

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Kenya. [Coast Province]: Kwale District, Buda Mafisini forest, 8 miles [12.9 km] WSW of Gazi, 80 m, male, fl, 22 Aug 1953, R.B. Drummond & J.H. Hemsley 3953 (Holotype: K! [3 sheets, K000309479, the other two sheets without barcode], isotype: EA!). Type: Kenya. Coast Province: Kilifi District, Mangea Hill, 39°42'E, 03°16'S, 450 m, dry bushland with Cynometra sp., Brachylaena sp., Manilkara sp., Brachystegia sp., Julbernardia sp., Diospyros sp., Xylopia sp., Inhambanella sp., 28 Dec 1988, W.R.Q. Luke 1601 (Paratype: EA!).

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Kenya. [Coast Province]: Kwale District, Cha Simba forest, 300 m, fr, 1 Feb 1953, R.B. Drummond & J.H. Hemsley 1078 (Paratype: K!).

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Kenya. [Coast Province]: Kwale District, Shimba Hills, Giriama Point area, 1250 ft [c. 381 m], forest edge, 17 Mar 1968, F.C. Magogo & P. Glover 315 (Paratypes: EA!, K!).

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Kenya. [Coast Province]: Kwale District, Shimba Hills, Pengo Hill area, 1500 ft [c. 457 m], forest, 27 Mar 1968, F.C. Magogo & P. Glover 493 (Paratypes: EA!, K!).

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Kenya. Shimba Hills, SE-part of Longomagandi Forest, 350 m, lowland rainforest, 13 Nov 1988, R. Schmidt 1203 (Paratype: EA!).

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Kenya. Kwale District, no detailed location given, 15 Jun 1957, Saunders 11241 (Paratype: EA!).

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Tanzania. Pwani: Bagamoyo District, Zaraninge Forest in Kiono Plateau, 38°36'E, 6°09'S, 1000 ft [c. 305 m], dry evergreen coastal forest, on sand, 14 Mar 1990, Frontier-Tanzania Coastal Forest Research Programme 1041 (Paratype: K!).

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Tanzania. [Pwani]: Kirasawe District: Pugu Hills Forest Reserve on Dar es Salaam-Kisarawe road. Roadside in forest, 100-270 m, 12 May 1970, K.H. Macauley CVL 102 (Paratypes: DSM!, EA!).

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Tanzania. [Pwani]: Pugu Hills, 19 Mar 1939, J.H. Vaughan 2774 (Paratype: EA!).

Coccinia pwaniensis Type: Tanzania. [Pwani]: Pugu Hills Forest Reserve, road W from road-tunnel, 100 m, in bushes by car-track through forest, 23 Jul 1972, R.C. Wingfield 2056 (Paratypes: DSM!, EA!).

Coccinia sp. B in C.Jeffrey, F. T. E. A.: 69. 1967. R.B. Drummond & J.H. Hemsley 1078 (K!); R.B. Drummond & J.H. Hemsley 3953 (K!, EA!); Saunders 11241 (EA!); J.H. Vaughan 2774 (EA!).

Description.

Perennial climber or creeper. Stems up to 3 m long, glabrous. Petiole 0.6-4.1 cm, adaxial side glabrous or with short, stiff trichomes, abaxial side with stiff, patent trichomes that can be quite reduced, then appearing wart-like or subglabrous. Leaves 2-10.4 × 2.7-11.4 cm, shallowly to profoundly 3-(or 5-)lobate, lobes broadly triangulate to elliptic, margin minutely dentate, tips acute. Upper leaf surface minutely hyaline pustulate, nerves sometimes with tiny trichomes, lower leaf surface glabrous, rarely with blackish glands at base, nerves towards the base with stiff, patent trichomes that can be quite reduced, then appearing wart-like or subglabrous. Probracts 2-3 mm long. Tendrils simple. Male flowers in racemes, sometimes accompanied by 1-2 solitary flowers. Peduncle 3.2-7.7 cm, glabrous, pedicels of flowers in racemes 0.2-1 cm, bracts 1-1.5 mm, pedicels of solitary flowers up to 3.8 cm. Perianth tube glabrous, calyx lobes 2.5-3.5 mm long, subulate and spreading, corolla pale yellow to pale orange-yellow, 1.7-2.6 cm, lobes 1-2 cm. Color of filament stalk, anther head, and pollen sacs not seen. Female flower not seen, perianth likely like in male flowers. Style and stigmas not seen. Fruit solitary, petioles at maturity 20-33 mm long, fruit shape oblong-fusiform, 6.2-8 × 1.8-2.3 cm, rarely (?) with an up to 5.5 cm long sterile apical tip, immature green with pale longitudinal mottling, at maturity becoming orange-red to scarlet-red with pale mottling. Seeds 6.5-7 × 4-4.5 × c. 1.5 mm (L/W/H), more or less symmetrically obovate, face lenticular.

Phenology.

Flowering time: January-March, June-August.

Distribution.

Fig. 23. Kenya (Coast Province), Tanzania (Pwani, but likely also in Dar es Salaam region and Tanga). Elevation 80-460 m. On sandy soil. Open and disturbed places of East African coastal forests and woodlands ( Brachystegia sp., Julbernardia sp., Diospyros sp.).

Vernacular names.

Kidigo: mnokonyoka (F.C. Magogo & P. Glover 493), mtambaa (F.C. Magogo & P. Glover 315), Kijibana: muri ya nyoka (L.J. Lap 258).

Remarks.

Morphologically this species (the only one missing DNA sequences) is close to Coccinia senensis . The indumentum is reduced in prominence and in extent to the petiole and leaves in Coccinia pwaniensis , and the leaves are rather 3-lobate and long petiolate, in contrast to often 5-lobate and shortly petiolate leaves in Coccinia senensis . The racemes in Coccinia pwaniensis have considerably more flowers than in Coccinia senensis . However, both species share the subulate calyx lobes, and fruit and seed shape suggest that both species are closely related with Coccinia adoensis . As Coccinia pwaniensis and Coccinia senensis do not co-occur, they might be sister species from allopatric speciation, with Coccinia pwaniensis occurring in a refugial distribution in the northern coastal forests of East Africa.

Specimens examined.

(in total: 13) Kenya. Coast Province: Kilifi district, Kaya Jibana, entering southern forest patch of Kaya Jibana following the path from shop/hoteli at Mwarakaya-Ribe road, 3°50'0"S, 39°40'30"E, L.J. Lap 258 (WAG [WAG0195516], WAG [WAG0195517]); Kwale district, Shimba Hills, Longomagandi Forest, R. Schmidt 527 (EA, UBT).