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Zehneria thwaitesii
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Family:
CUCURBITACEAE
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Citation: Zehneria thwaitesii (Schweinf.) Jeffrey, Kew Bull. 15: 371. 1962; Manilal, Fl. Silent Valley 122. 1988; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 217. 1990; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 158. 1998; Sasidh., Fl. Parambikulam WLS 138. 2002; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 238. 2005.
Melothria thwaitesii Schweinf., Relique. Kotschy 44. t. 29. 1868.
Melothria zeylanica Clarke in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 626. 1879; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 538(380). 1919; Sasidh. et al., Bot. Stud. Med. Pl. Kerala 22.1996.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Kattukoval
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Slender, glabrous or variously hirsute or pubescent; monoecious climbers. Leaves simple, alternate, 3-9.5 x 2-6.5 cm, broadly deltoid, or narrowly triangular, acute, acuminate, base subtruncate, occasionally hastate, distantly denticulate, finely verrucose-scabrid or finely scabrid-hispid above, subglabrous to pubescent beneath; petiole 1-2.5 cm long, slender, glabrous to densely white hirsute. Flowers white. Male flowers 2-4, pedicels slender, in small axillary racemes to c. 3.5 cm long at maturity; calyx-tube c. 4 mm long, glabrous without, lobes 4 mm long, lanceolate; corolla 4.5 5 mm long, lobes ovate-lanceolate, obtuse. Female flowers solitary, pedicellate, from same axils as male; pedicel 0.5-1 cm long, slender, glabrous; calyx somewhat smaller than male, with tube produced above ovary into slender neck. Fruit up to 2.5-3.75 cm long, cylindrical to ellipsoid, tapering at both ends, terminating in sharp beak, reticulately veined, with 6 prominent, longitudinal ridges; seeds 3-4 mm long, compressed, white.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
August-December
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District(s):
Idukki, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Common in all types of forests
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Distribution:
South India, Sri Lanka, Tropical Africa and Madagascar
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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):
Yellow, 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:
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Localities:
Sholayar, Naduthottam, Uppupara, Pandaravarai, Karimala, Upper Moozhiar, Ponnambalamedu, Damsite, Pathenthode, Valiyaparathode
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