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(Last Modified On 7/31/2013)
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(Last Modified On 7/31/2013)
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Species
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Cyclanthera pedata (L.) Schrad.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Linnaea 8, Litt.-Bericht.: 23. 1833.
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Synonym
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Momordica pedata L., Sp. PI. 2: 1009. 1753. TYPE: not known. Anguria pedatisecta Nees & Mart., Nova Acta Caes. Leop. Carol. German Nat. Cur. 12: 10. 1824. TYPE: not known. Anguria pedisecta Ser. in DC., Prodr. 3: 319. 1828, non Nees & Mart., 1824. TYPE: not known. Momordica pedisecta Ser. in DC., Prodr. 3: 319. 18?8, pro syn. Cyclanthera digitata Arnott, J. Bot. (Hooker) 3: 280. 1841. TYPE: not known. Cyclanthera edulis Naud., Belgique Hort. 360. 1872. TYPE: not known. Cyclanthera pedata var. edulis (Naud.) Cogn. in DC., Monogr. Phan. 3: 826. 1881.
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Description
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Annual vines; stems slender, glabrous. Leaves 5-foliolate, sometimes the two lateral lobes slightly joined at the base and the leaves 3-foliolate, the blade sub- orbicular in outline, 2.5-20 cm long and about as wide, the leaflets lanceolate, the lateral leaflets often pedately lobate, the margins serrulate-dentate to dissected, the apex acute, membranaceous, the upper and the lower surfaces glabrate; petiole 1-8 cm long; tendrils 2-branched. Staminate flowers axillary, paniculate; rachis 10-20 cm long, the 25(-50) flowers confined to the upper '/2-1/4 of the rachis; pedicels ca. 5 mm long, filiform; calyx shallowly cupulate, 3-4 mm wide, greenish white, the lobes obscure or to 2 mm long; corolla 3-6 mm wide, whitish, the lobes 1-2 mm long, broadly lanceolate, the outer surface glabrous, the inner surface papillate, 3-nerved; androecial head sessile, 2.0-2.5 mm in diameter. Pistillate flowers solitary, in the same axils as the staminate flowers; peduncle 6-10 mm long; calyx and corolla as in the staminate flowers; ovary obliquely ovoid, rostrate, 4-6 mm long, unarmed or with a few seta near the base; stigma subglobose. Fruits greenish white, striate, obliquely ovoid, 5-16 cm long, indehiscent, the setae few or none; seeds dark brown, ovoid, com- pressed, 12-16 mm long, the margin irregularly appendaged.
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Habit
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vines
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Note
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Cyclanthera pedata occurs in thickets and disturbed sites around habitations
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Distribution
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Mexico south to Peru and Ecuador.
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Note
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It is probably native to Andean South America, but is commonly cultivated in the Neotropics for its edible fruit and it frequently occurs as an escape. It is reported by Standley (1928) as occurring in the Canal Zone of Panama. Although no specimens have been seen, it is to be expected.
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