Scarlet gourd Scarlet gourd

Bryonia grandis Linnaeus, Mant. Pl. 1: 126. 1767

Vines climbing, widely spreading, sometimes prostrate. Stems glabrous or glabrate, sometimes rooting at nodes. Leaves: petiole 1–5 cm; blade 5–10 × 4–9 cm, base cordate with broad sinus, apex acute, mucronate, adaxial surface with 3–8 glands. Peduncles 1–5 cm. Flowers: sepals recurved, 2–5 mm; petals 15–20 mm, apices acute to obtuse-apiculate. Pepos 2.5–6 cm. Seeds 6–8 mm, aril red to red-orange. 2n = 24.

Flowering May–Nov. Trash dumps, thickets, fencerows, cypress swamps; 0–30 m; introduced; Fla., Tex.; e Africa; introduced also in Asia (China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam), Pacific Islands, Australia.

The shoot tips and immature fruits of Coccinia grandis are used in Asian and Indian cooking; long-range dispersal is often the result of introduction by humans. It sometimes has been misidentified as C. cordifolia (Linnaeus) Cogniaux.