Cucumis aculeatus Cogn.

Cucurbitaceae, C. Jeffrey. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1967

Morphology General Habit

Herb trailing or climbing to 2–3 m.; stems ridged, prickly, with the prickles yellow-green, recurved, of varying degrees of stoutness, some fine and hair-like, some thorn-like; basal stems gnarled, thickened, whitish-barked, arising from a somewhat thickened fleshy perennial rootstock.

Morphology Leaves

Leaf-blade prickly to the touch, scabrid-hairy above and beneath and the nerves beneath with scattered prickles similar to those of the stem, ovate-oblong in outline, weakly cordate or subtruncate at the base, obscurely to distinctly sinuate-toothed, 20–91 mm. long, 22–76 mm. broad, unlobed or ± distinctly palmately 3–5-lobed; lobes ovate to broadly elliptic, the lateral ones small and usually subtriangular; petiole 10–38 mm. long, prickly like the stems.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Male flowers solitary, on 1.5–6 mm. long pedicels; receptacle-tube green, 3–4.5 mm. long; lobes filiform, 2–3 mm. long; petals pale yellow with green veins, 5.5–9 mm. long, 2.5–4 mm. broad, united below. Female flowers on 6–17 mm. long pedicels; ovary green, covered with bulbous-based yellow-green hairs, fusiform, 10–12 mm. long, 4–6 mm. across; receptacle-tube 3–3.5 mm. long; lobes triangular-lanceolate, 2–5 mm. long; petals 8–13 mm. long, 3.5–5 mm. broad, apiculate, shortly united below.

sex Male

Male flowers solitary, on 1.5–6 mm. long pedicels; receptacle-tube green, 3–4.5 mm. long; lobes filiform, 2–3 mm. long; petals pale yellow with green veins, 5.5–9 mm. long, 2.5–4 mm. broad, united below.

sex Female

Female flowers on 6–17 mm. long pedicels; ovary green, covered with bulbous-based yellow-green hairs, fusiform, 10–12 mm. long, 4–6 mm. across; receptacle-tube 3–3.5 mm. long; lobes triangular-lanceolate, 2–5 mm. long; petals 8–13 mm. long, 3.5–5 mm. broad, apiculate, shortly united below.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruit (fig. 15/4, p. 95) on a stout 15–25 mm. long stalk, obovoid-ellipsoid, bluntly trigonous, 50–71 mm. long, 34–50 mm. across, pustulate with scattered low conical pustules each ending in a hyaline bristle, pale green ripening yellow.

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds elliptic in outline, lenticular, smooth, 6.5 × 3 × 1.5 mm.

Habitat

Bushland, wooded grassland and grassland; 1080–2200 m.

Distribution

K3 K4 K6 T2 T5 T7 U2 eastern Congo and Rwanda Republicssouthern Ethiopia