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Coccinia adoensis

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Photo by Jerry Wright.


The fruit and large leaves from Zambiaflora.com.
Photo from Aluka.

Author: Célestin Alfred Cogniaux, 1881
Family:  CUCURBITACEAE
Origin:  Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Medium - Maximum
Thickness:  30 Centimetres
Height:  3 Metres
Flower:  Creamy Yellow - Salmon-Pink - Orange
Propagate:  Seeds
Names:  Wild Spinach
Synonyms:  Momordica adoensis Hochst. ex A. Rich. 1847.
Bryonia jatrophaefolia,
A.Rich.
Coccinia homblei,
Cogn.
Coccinia jatrophaefolia,
Cogn.
Coccinia parvifolia,
Cogn.
Coccinia rigida,
Gilg
Cephalandra pubescens,
Sond.
Coccinia pubescens,
Eyles.
Coccinia djurensis,
Gilg.
Coccinia homblei,
Cogn.
Coccinia roseiflora,
Suesseng.
Coccinia subspicata,
Cogn. Schizostigma asperata, Arn.
Cephalandra rehmanni,
Cogn. Schizostigma asperata, Arn.
Coccinia hartmanniana,
Schweinf. Coccinia palmata, Williamson.
Coccinia princeae,
Gilg.
Coccinia aostae,
Busc. & Muschl.
Coccinia diversifolia,
Cogn.

This member of the Cucurbitaceae family was given this name by Célestin Alfred Cogniaux in 1881. It is found in the semidry wood- and grass regions of central and southern Africa, growing in a well drained soil with some water and some to lots of sun. The caudex can grow to 30 centimetres or more, the vines can reach three metres. The flowers are creamy yellow over salmon pink to orange with greenish or brownish vines. The fruits are four to fifteen millimetres and red with a long stalk.

As the many synonyms indicates, the leaves are extremely variable, from broadly ovate or pentagonal to deeply palmately 3-7 lobed.

The genera name from Latin coccineus, meaning 'red' or 'scarlet' which must referee to the fruits. The specific name after the city of Adoa, presend day Adwa/Aduwa in Ethiopia.