Cucurbitaceae
Zehneria

Zehneria marlothii (Cogn.) R.Fern. & A.Fern.

First published in Mem. Junta Invest. Ultramar, 2 Ser. 34: 120 (1962)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Tropical & S. Africa. It is a climbing perennial and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome.

Descriptions

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Cucurbitaceae, C. Jeffrey. Flora Zambesiaca 4. 1978

Morphology General Habit
Stem scandent to 3 m., glabrous or sparsely setulose at the nodes.
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-lamina 1·3–7·0 x 1·0–7·8 cm., membraneous, ovate or broadly ovate in outline, cordate, dark green and rather coarsely scabrid-punctate above, smooth and glabrous or glabrous except for a few setulae on veins beneath, obscurely and remotely to rather prominently sinuate-denticulate at the margins, rather shallowly to moderately deeply palmately 3–5-lobed, the central largest, broadly triangular to ovate, more or less acuminate, acute to obtuse or rounded, apiculate, the lateral shorter.
Morphology Leaves Petiole
Petioles glabrous or sparsely spiculate, 0·7–6 cm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Flowers monoecious. Female flowers solitary, co-axillary with male; pedicels 1·5–8 mm. long; ovary 1·5–2·5 mm. long; perianth as in male flower. Male flowers 2–15 in shortly racemiform or subumbelliform pedunculate axillary clusters, rarely solitary; peduncle 0·2–2 cm. long; pedicels 1–3 mm. long. Receptacle-tube 0·5–1·3 cm. long, lobes triangular, dentiform, 0·2–0·4 mm. long. Petals white, becoming yellow-green with age, 0·8–1·5 mm. long.
sex Male
Male flowers 2–15 in shortly racemiform or subumbelliform pedunculate axillary clusters, rarely solitary; peduncle 0·2–2 cm. long; pedicels 1–3 mm. long. Receptacle-tube 0·5–1·3 cm. long, lobes triangular, dentiform, 0·2–0·4 mm. long. Petals white, becoming yellow-green with age, 0·8–1·5 mm. long.
sex Female
Female flowers solitary, co-axillary with male; pedicels 1·5–8 mm. long; ovary 1·5–2·5 mm. long; perianth as in male flower.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits globose, glabrous, red, 5–7 mm. in diameter; pedicels 2–7 mm. long.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds ovate in outline, smooth, compressed, 4·2–4·7 × 2·7–3.5× 0·4–0·7 mm.
[FZ]

Common Names

English
Donkey Flower

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Flora Zambesiaca

    • Flora Zambesiaca
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Plants and People Africa

    • Common Names from Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com/
    • © Plants and People Africa http://www.plantsandpeopleafrica.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/