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Trichosanthes lepiniana
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Family:
CUCURBITACEAE
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Citation: Trichosanthes lepiniana (Naud.) Cogn. in A. & C. DC., Monogr. Phan. 3: 377. 1881; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 530(374). 1919; Chakrav., Fasc. Fl. Ind. 11: 116. 1982; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 326. 2009.
Involucraria lepiniana Naud. in Huber, Cat. 11. 1868.
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Malayalam Name(s):
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Tendril climbers; stem robust, branched, glabrous. Leaves alternate, suborbicular, 9-17(-20) cm, shortly 3-5-lobed up to middle, adaxially rough; lobe margin denticulate, apex acute or shortly acuminate; petiole 4-7 cm, striate, glabrous or glandular-punctate. Male racemes 13-17 cm; peduncle robust, striate, glabrous; pedicels ca. 5 mm; bracts suborbicular, ca. 4 cm, cucullate, margin lacerate; calyx tube attenuate from apex toward base, ca. 7 cm, puberulent; segments narrowly ovate, ca. 1.5 × 0.4 cm, margin laciniate. Female flowers solitary; pedicel 2.5-3 cm, glabrous, striate; bracts ovate, ca. 1.5 × 1 cm, entire; calyx tube ca. 4 cm; ovary ovoid, ca. 1.5 × 1 cm, glabrous. Fruit red, ovoid, ca. 9 cm in diam., smooth; seeds brown, broadly ovate, ca. 1.5 × 0.8-1 cm, base obtuse or attenuate, apex truncate.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
April-November
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Along the roadsides and sacred grooves in the plains
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Distribution:
India and Malaysia
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
White
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
-500
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Localities:
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