Cucurbitaceae
Cucumis

Cucumis jeffreyanus Thulin

First published in Nordic J. Bot. 11: 539 (1991)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is E. Ethiopia to Kenya. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the desert or dry shrubland biome.

Descriptions

M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS

Morphology General Habit
Trailing herb to 1 m long; stems ± sparsely and weakly scabrid
Morphology Leaves
Leaf-blade ovate to broadly ovate-triangular, cordate, scabrid, 1.5–5.5 x 1.8–4.6 cm, ± deeply palmately 3–5-lobed with ± ovate lobes, the central the largest; petiole 1–3.8 cm long, scabrid
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Male flowers solitary or paired Female flowers solitary
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Hypanthium
Hypanthium 5.5–6 mm long, hispid
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
Sepals filiform, 1.5–2 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Pedicel
Pedicels 5–12 mm long Pedicels 10–20 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
Ovary ellipsoid, c. 6–7 mm long, tuberculate
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
Petals c. 4–5.5 mm long Petals c. 10 mm long
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Fruits subglobose to ellipsoid, c. 3.5–4 x 2.5–3.5 cm, glabrous, pale green, with yellow or orange thick fleshy spines 3–5 mm long; pedicel to 3.5 cm long, not thickened towards the apex
Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
Seeds elliptic, c. 3.2–3.5 mm long.
Distribution
S1; E Ethiopia, ?E Kenya
Ecology
Altitude range 320–490 m.
[FSOM]

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: threatened. Confidence: low confidence
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

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

  • Flora of Somalia

    • Flora of Somalia
    • 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 2026. 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 2026. 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