Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca (C.Jeffrey) Holstein, 2015

Holstein, Norbert, 2015, Monograph of Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae), PhytoKeys 54, pp. 1-166 : 60-62

2b. Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca (C.Jeffrey) Holstein stat. nov.

Coccinia aurantiaca C.Jeffrey, Kew Bull. 17: 169. 1963.

Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca Type: Tanzania. Dodoma: Kondoa District, Great North road, 15 miles S of Kondoa, 1310 m, fl, fr, 19 Jan 1962, R. Polhill & S. Paulo 1221 (Holotype: K! [K000313236, digital image: JPS, K], isotypes: B! [B 10 0154922, digital image: B, JPS], B! [B 10 0154923, digital image: B, JPS], BR! [BR0000008887252, digital image: BR, JPS], EA (2)!, PRE! [PRE0592951-1, digital image: JPS], PRE! [PRE0592951-2, digital image: JPS]).

Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca Type: Tanzania. Dodoma: 1 ml. [1.6 km] S of Dodoma, Imagi hill, R. Polhill & S. Paulo 1274 (Paratypes: B! [B 10 0154921, digital image: B, JPS], BR!, EA!, K (3)!, P! p.p.,

Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca PRE!, S! [S08-11841, digital image: S]).

Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca Type: Tanzania. Mwanza: Mwanza, Ilemera, Butimba, R.E.S. Tanner 1902 (Paratypes: BR!, EA!, K (2)!).

Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca Type: Tanzania. Mwanza: Mbarika [chiefdom], Buzomo, R.E.S. Tanner 1068 (Paratypes: BR!, COI (2)!, EA!, K!, NY!).

Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca Type: Tanzania. Mwanza: Mwanza, R.E.S. Tanner 646 (Paratype: K!).

Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca Type: Tanzania. Shinyanga: near Shinyanga, R.D. Bax 57 (Paratypes: K (2)!).

Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca Type: Tanzania. Shinyanga: hills near Shinyanga, B.D. Burtt 2517 (Paratype: K!).

Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca Type: Tanzania. Shinyanga: Shinyanga, H. Koritschoner 1823 (Paratypes: EA (2)!, K!).

Description.

Perennial climber. Stems up to 10 m, almost tomentose with short (<0.5 mm), stiff, whitish trichomes. Petiole 1.5-3.5 cm, indumentum similar to stems. Leaves 5.2-12.5 × 6.4-14.5 cm, cordate, shallowly to profoundly 3- or 5-lobate. Lobes triangulate, ovate, elliptical to obovate. Margin serrate to lobulate. Apex obtuse, rarely acute, with final tooth. Upper leaf surface white-pustulate sometimes more or less pubescent with short, whitish trichomes. Lower leaf surface usually densely covered with curved or short, straight trichomes on nerves. Probracts up to 1.5 mm, often caducous. Tendrils simple. Male flowers solitary or in racemes. Common peduncle 0.4-3 cm, pedicels in racemes up to 0.5 cm, pedicel of solitary flowers 1-2 cm, indumentum as on stem. Bracts up to 1.5 mm, persisting. Perianth tube densely covered with short (<0.5 mm) trichomes. Calyx lobes 1-3 mm, narrow triangular to dentate, spreading. Corolla 1.6-2.4 cm long, pale yellow-brown to orange, rarely? yellow, with green to orange venation, lobes 0.6-1 cm. Filament column, anther head, and pollen sacs more or less pale orange, rarely yellowish? (Fig. 10 b). Female flowers solitary, pedicel 1.2-4 cm, indumentum as on stems. Hypanthium densely covered with short (<0.5 mm) trichomes, calyx lobes, and corolla as in male flowers. Style shape not seen, green. Stigma shape not seen, yellow to orange. Ovary with short trichomes. Unripe fruits pale green with irregular lighter spots and dark green longitudinal lines. Fruits 5-9 × 1.5-3.5 cm, long ovoid, apex sometimes beaked, when ripe orange-red. Seeds 6-6.5 × 3.5-4 × 1.5-1.7 mm [L/W/H], slightly asymmetrically obovate, face flatly lenticular.

Phenology.

Flowering time: January, March, July, October, December.

Distribution.

Fig. 23. Tanzania (Dodoma, Iringa, Manyara, Morogoro, Mwanza, Shinyanga). Elevation 600-1200 m. Red sandy soil, red clay, granite. White clay. Gray sand. Brown sandy loam. Dry Miombo woodland, Acacia tanganyikensis - Acacia tortilis subsp. spirocarpa - Adansonia digitata - Maerua crassifolia - Balanites aegyptiaca woodland, long grass savannas, dry ( Commiphora - Acacia ) bushland, thickets (e.g., Combretum thickets), among rocks on hills.

Use.

Leaves are boiled and eaten (J.L. Newman 62). Fruits edible when ripe and dry (E.S. Macha 600).

Vernacular names.

Sandawe language: koba (J.L. Newman 62).

Remarks.

The status of this taxon as species is unclear, therefore it is treated as a variety of the polymorphic Coccinia adoensis . Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca specimens as listed here are usually more densely covered with trichomes than Coccinia adoensis var. adoensis . Jeffrey segregated this species from the polymorphic Coccinia adoensis because of the non-beaked fruits and flat seeds with a hyaline girdle. The beak is a sterile part of the ovary with variable length, but it does not occur in all populations. Two of the paratypes (R. Polhill & S. Paulo 1274 (BR, P)), which match other Coccinia adoensis var. aurantiaca collections vegetatively, have a slightly beaked fruit, although most other collections do not. The seeds are also hardly distinct from Coccinia adoensis , perhaps somewhat larger. Seeds in Coccinia are enclosed in a hyaline aril. Jeffrey only observed the dry collapsed aril, which is not part of the seed, as a "hyaline girdle". The orange color of the petals, even with purple venation also occurs in individuals of Coccinia adoensis var. adoensis that have a less dense indumentum. The corolla is thus not a good distinguishing character either. However, this variety seems to occur in a drier part of the range of the overall Coccinia adoensis distribution ( Holstein and Renner 2011b).

Taxonomic remarks.

The flowers in the R. Polhill & S. Paulo 1274 specimen in P do not belong to Coccinia . The calyx appears to be Momordica foetida Schum. & Thonn. The HEID specimen (HEID779579) of that collection is also mistaken, eventually a mix-up while mounting the specimen. It has a completely different indumentum and a narrow, almost cylindrical perianth tube.

Specimens examined.

(Selection, in total: 29) Tanzania. Dodoma: Dodoma-Kondoa road, c. 20 km S of Kondoa, 05°16'31.5"S, 35°53'01.1"E, N. Holstein et al. 85 (DSM, M), and 86 (M). Iringa: Iringa Rural District, along road Iringa-Morogoro road and Lukosi River, at bottom of Kitonga Gorge, c. 6 km W of Mahenge village at milepost 253 km from Morogoro, 7°38'S, 36°14'E, [7°34'S, 36°19'E], C.M. Taylor et al. 8485 (K, MO); [Ruaha National Park], Msembi [near airfield], P.J. Greenway & K. Kanuri 14811 (EA (2), K, M). Manyara: Tarangire National Park, road Tarangire camp-Babati, 1 ml. from camp, H.M. Richards 24817 (EA, K). Morogoro: Kilosa district, Elphon’s Pass, 7°22'S, 36°42'E, J.C. Lovett & T.C.E. Congdon 2931 (K, MO).