Sicana odorifera
Diagnostic description 3
Sicana odorifera (Vell.) Naudin, Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. Sér. 4: 18. 181. 1862.
Basionym: Cucurbita odorifera Vell.
Herbaceous vine, climbing by tendrils, attaining 8 m or more in length. Stems green, thick, sulcate, puberulent or glabrescent; tendrils axillary, 5-fid, 9-11 cm long. Leaves alternate; blades 10-20 × 10-20 cm, 3-5 (7)-lobed, chartaceous, the lobes deep, acute, the base cordiform, the margins undulate or denticulate; upper surface dark green, slightly shiny, glabrous; lower surface pale green, with prominent venation, glabrous; petioles 7-13 cm long, slender, canaliculate or slightly winged, villous. Flowers unisexual, ascending, solitary, axillary; peduncle shorter than the accompanying leaf. Calyx green, campanulate, 6-8 mm long, tomentose, the lobes reflexed, 10-12 mm long, lanceolate; corolla yellow, campanulate, 2.5-4 cm long, tomentose; stamens 3; staminodia 3; ovary ovoid, 5-6 mm long, puberulent. Berry pendulous, cylindrical or ellipsoid, 30-50 cm long and ca. 10 cm in diameter, yellowish brown or mulberry-colored; seeds, numerous, asymmetrically ovate, compressed, with the margin darker, 13.5-15 mm long.
Phenology: Collected in flower and fruit during August.
Status: Exotic, cultivated, common.
Distribution 4
Distribution: Species native to South America, cultivated in Puerto Rico and the Greater Antilles for its edible fruits, which are found for sale in the public markets.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10385777
- (c) Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=botany&irn=10355280
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435310
- (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435812
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- Catalogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
- eFloras.org
- Flora of North America (beta)
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- NatureServe Explorer 2.0
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- World Flora Online
