Volume 9 > Part 4 > Year 2008 > Page 427 > Cucurbitaceae > Cucumis

1. Cucumis hystrix Chakrav.wfo-0000628887

J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 50: 869, pl. 7. 1952; Rec. Bot. Surv. India 17: 110. 1959, S.K.Chen in C.Y.Wu, C.Chen & S.K.Chen, Fl. Yunnan. 6: 340, f. 88: 3–7. 1995; W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes, Adansonia, sér. 3, 29 (2): 241. 2007. Fig. 5; Plate XXXIII: 2–4.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Synonyms & Citations :

Description : Annual climber 2–6(–8) m long; wholly (setose) hairy, hairs to 3 mm long; stem (1–)2 mm diam.; monoecious. Tendrils hairy. Leaves: blade circular or ovate in outline, 5–15 cm diam., (3–)5-angular or shallowly lobed (to ca ⅓ deep), both surfaces sparsely or densely finely (appressed) setose-hairy, especially on the veins, hairs brown-red or grey, mostly with thickened base, cystoliths not obvious, base deeply cordate, margin regularly or irregularly serrate dentate, apex, and apices of lobes acute(-acuminate); petiole 1.5–8 cm long, with (appressed) downward curved or subpatent hairs. Male flowers 2–7-fascicled; pedicel 2–5 mm long, hairy; receptacle-tube turbinate-urceolate, ca 5 by 2 mm; sepals 2(–3) mm long; corolla 8–10 mm long, connate part 2–4 mm long, corolla lobes 4–6 mm long, apex (sub)acute, mid-veins setose; stamens inserted about halfway in the receptacle-tube; filaments ca 0.5 mm long, glabrous; anthers 2–2.5 mm long, connective extension (0.5–)1 mm long; disc subglobose, ca 2 mm diam. Female flowers solitary; pedicel 1–5 mm long (or longer, see the note), strigose; ovary narrowly ellipsoid-ovoid, 8–10 by 2–3 mm, strigose, hairs with bulbose thickenings, grey or red-brown, ca 1 mm long; perianth as in male flowers, but sepals somewhat broader; style 2–3 mm long, stigma ca 2.5 mm long, consisting of 3 sessile fleshy lobes, connate at base, lobes at apex 2-lobed, papillose; staminodes ca 1 mm long, inserted about halfway the receptacle tube. Fruit pendent, green or yellowish green, (narrowly) ellipsoid, tapering at both ends and apex shortly beaked, 3–5 by 1–2 cm, beak 2–6.5 mm long, fruit densely set with spine-like 2–5 mm long protuberances; fruiting pedicel 0.2–1 cm long (but see the note). Seeds 3.5–5 by 2–2.5 mm, smooth or hairy.

Thailand : NORTHERN: Chiang Mai (Doi Suthep NP, Doi Inthanon NP, Doi Chiang Dao NP, Doi Chiang Dao WS), Nan (Doi Phu Ka NP, Doi Wao), Lamphun (Doi Khun NP), Lampang (Chae Son NP), Tak (Khao Pha Wo); SOUTH-WESTERN: Kanchanaburi (Thung Yai Naresuan WS, Huai Bankao).

Distribution : NE India (Assam – type), Myanmar, SW China (Yunnan).

Ecology : Scrub, roadsides, forests edges, on soil over granite as well as on limestone, 200–1,800 m alt.

Notes: The hairs on the stems can be grey, yellowish or red-brown, varying in length from ca 1 mm to ca 4 mm. The length of the pedicels of female flowers and fruiting pedicels can vary from a few millimeters to ca 1 cm. On Doi Chiang Dao, N Thailand, the fruits are mostly subsessile, while the flowers are comparatively large.