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Coccinia pwaniensis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coccinia pwaniensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Coccinia
Species:
C. pwaniensis
Binomial name
Coccinia pwaniensis

Coccinia pwaniensis is an East African species of Coccinia that was first described in 2010.

Description

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Perennial, dioecious climber. Shoot length up to 3 m. Young shoots are glabrous and green and later make a grey to reddish-grey bark. Leaves are alternate with 0.6 to 4.1 cm long petiole, lamina 2–10 × 2.7–11.4 cm, shallowly to profoundly 3-lobate (rarely 5-lobate). Upper lamina glabrous with clear to whitish pustules. Lower lamina and petiole with sparse hairs that appear wart-like when broken off. Tendrils simple. Probracts 2–3 mm long.

Flowers in male plants in long many-flowered racemes, in female plants solitary. Calyx with 5 very acute ("subulate"), 2.5–3.5  mm long lobes. Corolla 1.7–2.6 cm long, pale yellowish-orange. Stamens in male flowers 3, combined to a single column. Anthers sinuate, in a globose head. Fruits short cylindrical, 6.2–8.0 cm long and 1.8–2.3 cm in diameter. Seeds 6.5–7.0 × 4.0–4.5 × ca. 1.5 mm (L/W/H), symmetrically obovate, face lenticular.

Distribution

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Coccinia pwaniensis occurs along the margins of northern East African coastal forests in SE Kenya, E and NE Tanzania.

Etymology

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The epithet is derived from the Swahili word for "coast", referring to the distribution of the species.

Hybridization

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The species is known to produce sterile hybrids with Coccinia grandis in the wild.

References

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  • Holstein, N.; Renner, S.S. (2010). "Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae) gains two new species from East Africa, three new synonyms, and one new combination". Kew Bulletin. 65 (3): 435–441. doi:10.1007/s12225-010-9229-9. S2CID 41294663.
  • Holstein, N. (2015). "Monograph of Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae)". PhytoKeys (54): 1–166. doi:10.3897/phytokeys.54.3285. PMC 4547038. PMID 26312043.