Volume 9 > Part 4 > Year 2008 > Page 539 > Cucurbitaceae > Trichosanthes

17. Trichosanthes wawrae Cogn.wfo-0000408069

in A. & C.DC., Monogr. Phan. 3: 384. 1881 (‘wawraei’); Ridl., Fl. Malay Penin. 1: 845. 1922; Craib, Fl. Siam. 1: 754. 1931; Rugayah & W.J.de Wilde, Blumea 42: 481. 1997; Duyfjes & Pruesapan, Thai Forest Bull. (Bot.) 32: 103. 2004. Fig. 41: L.

Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.

Description : Climber, 3–8 m long; glabrous or partly short-hairy; plant green, petals white; cystoliths obvious or not; stem ca 2 mm thick. Probract obovate ca 4 by 2 mm, with glands (always?). Tendrils 2-branched. Leaves: blade 3-foliolate (in juvenile plants partly simple), lobed or unlobed, suborbicular in outline, middle leaflet obovate-lanceolate, 4.5–9 by 2–4 cm, ± glabrous, glands absent to several, scattered, ca 0.5 mm diam., base long-cuneate, margin entire or minutely sparsely dentate, apex acute-acuminate; lateral leaflets unequal-sided (sometimes deeply 2 lobed), ovate-oblong, of about the same size as the middle one; petiole 2–3.5(–5) cm long, petiolules ca 0.5 cm long. Male inflorescences 9–20 cm long, thinly hairy; peduncle 2–6 cm long, 2(–3) mm thick; rachis with 10(–20) flowers; bracts (sub)persistent, obovate or oblong, 7–13 by 2–7 mm, with glands, margin (entire or) shallowly or deeply dentate-laciniate. Male flowers: pedicel ca 3 mm long; receptacle-tube 20(–40) mm long, narrow in lower half, at apex (3–)5 mm wide; sepals narrowly triangular, 5–7 mm long, ca 2 mm wide at base, entire; expanded petals not seen; synandrium ca 11 mm long, filaments ca 1 mm long, glabrous. Female flowers (not seen in Thai material): pedicel 5–15 mm long; ovary ovoid, ca 10 by 5 mm, glabrous; perianth as in male. Fruits (orange-)red, longitudinally with yellowish streaks, ovoid, ca 7 by 5 cm; pericarp ca 5 mm thick when dry, mature exocarp leathery; pulp greenish-blackish; fruiting pedicel 0.5–2 by ca 0.3 cm. Seeds dark brown, compressed, ovate or elliptic(-oblong), 15–17 by 10–11 by 2 mm, base subtruncate, apex obtuse or subacute, margin broad but obscure, edge entire.

Thailand : SOUTH-EASTERN: Chon Buri (Khao Khiao); PENINSULAR: Pattani, Satun.

Distribution : W Malesia: Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore (type), Sumatra, Java, Borneo (Sarawak).

Ecology : Open areas, forests edges, in evergreen forests, 200–900 m alt. Flowering: April and June; fruiting: March.

Vernacular : Khi ka din (ขี้กาดิน).

Notes: Certain stout specimens from Chonburi resemble Trichosanthes elmeri Merr., but the material is not yet conclusive for that species.

Material close Trichosanthes wawrae, from Laos, can be identified with Flora of China (English draft version 2007) as T. quinquefolia C.Y.Cheng & Yueh. It is possible that this taxon will be found in eastern Thailand in the future.