红瓜 hong gua

Bryonia grandis Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 12, 2: 640; Mant. Pl. 1: 126. 1767; Cephalandra indica Naudin, nom. illeg. superfl.; Coccinia indica Wight & Arnott, nom. illeg. superfl.

Roots robust. Stem slender, slightly woody, many branched, angular, glabrous. Tendrils filiform, glabrous, simple. Petiole slender, 2-5 cm; leaf blade broadly cordate, 5-10 × 5-10 cm, usually 5-angled or 5-lobed, base with several glands, apex obtuse. Plants dioecious; flowers solitary. Male pedicel slender, 2-4 cm, glabrous; calyx tube broadly campanulate, 4-5 mm; segments linear-lanceolate, ca. 3 mm; corolla white or slightly yellow, 2.5-3.5 cm; segments ovate, outside glabrous, inside pubescent; filaments and anthers connate; filaments 2-3 mm; anthers subglobose, 6-7 mm. Female pedicel slender, 1-3 cm; staminodes 3, 1-3 mm, nearly subulate, villous at base; ovary fusiform, 12-15 mm; style 6-7 mm; stigmas 3, 5-6 mm. Fruit red when mature, fusiform, ca. 5 × 2.5 cm. Seeds yellow, oblong, 6-7 × 2.5-4 mm, ca. 1.5 mm thick, both surfaces densely punctate, apex rounded. Fl. and fr. summer.

Thickets on mountain slopes and in forests; 100-1100 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan [tropical Africa and Asia].