Synonyms:
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Fevillea pedata Sims
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Common names:
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Oyster nut (English)
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Description:
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Liane up to 30 m long, cultivated for its oily seeds. Leaves pedately compound with 5-7 oblong to broadly elliptic leaflets, almost hairless; margin widely toothed. Male flowers in racemes, female flowers solitary on long peduncles, purplish with green stripes near the base. Petals up to 3.5 cm long, fringed with filaments. Fruit large, 30-90 cm long, more or less ellipsoid, bluntly ribbed, somewhat widened and lobed at the base, green. |
Notes:
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Very rare as naturalized escape. Known in Zimbabwe from one record in the Harare region (Watmough 609, Warren Hill, 24-04-1965, SRGH). |
Derivation of specific name:
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pedata: pedate; with leaves which are palmately divided, with the lateral lobes again partially divided |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution:
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Native to Tanzania and probably northern Mozambique. |
Growth form(s):
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Insects associated with this species:
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Spot characters:
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Display spot characters for this species |
Image last updated: |
Sunday 1 February 2009 |
Literature:
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Jeffrey, C. (1978). Cucurbitaceae Flora Zambesiaca 4 Pages 417 - 419. (Includes a picture).
Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 39.
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