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Kedrostis nana

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Photo from Stupid Garden Plants.


As with so many other Cucurbitaceae, the leaves show huge variations.

Author: Célestin Alfred Cogniaux, 1881
Family:  CUCURBITACEAE
Origin:  Eastern + Western Cape; South Africa
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  30 Centimetres
Height:  250 Centimetres
Flower:  Pale Yellow
Propagate:  Seeds
Names:  Dwarf Kedrostis, Porcupine Potato, Ystervarkpatat, Dawidjieswortel
Synonyms:  Bryonia nana, Jean Baptiste Antoine Pierre de Monnet de Lamarck.
Coniandra mollis
, Otto Wilhelm Sonder.
Coniandra thunbergii 
Otto Wilhelm Sonder.
Kedrostis angulata
, Henri Georges Fourcade.
Kedrostis mollis
, Célestin Alfred Cogniaux.
Kedrostis velutina
, Célestin Alfred Cogniaux.
Melothria hederacea
, Célestin Alfred Cogniaux.
Kedrostis nana var. schlechteri, A. Meeuse = Kedrostis schlechteri Cogn.
Kedrostis nana var. zeyheri, A. Meeuse = Coniandra zeyheri Schrad. and Kedrostis zeyheri Cogn.

This member of the Cucurbitaceae family was given this name by Célestin Alfred Cogniaux in 1881. It is found in Eastern and Western Cape in South Africa, growing in a well drained soil with some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to 30 centimetres in diameter, the entire plant to two and a half meter in height. The flowers are pale yellow.

The genera name from Greek kedrostis, 'white Bryony', the ancient name of a scrambling cucurbit. The species name means 'a dwarf'. Can't be the caudex!