瓜叶栝楼 gua ye gua lou

Trichosanthes brevibracteata Kundu; T. pachyrrhachis Kundu.

Plants annual. Stems slender, profusely branched, ± pubescent. Leaf blade reniform or broadly ovate, (5-)7-10 × 8-11 cm, membranous, ± deeply 5-7-lobed; lobes triangular or rhombic. Plants monoecious. Male peduncles in pairs, earlier 1-flowered, later bearing a raceme; raceme few flowered; peduncle slender, 15-20 cm, puberulent; pedicel erect, 0.5-1.5 cm, puberulent; bracts absent or very small; calyx tube somewhat dilated at apex, 15-16 mm. Female flowers solitary or sometimes replacing earlier male flower; ovary oblong. Fruit ovoid-oblong, 5-7 × 2.5-3.5 cm, with 7-10 seeds. Seeds ovate-oblong, 9-12 × 5-6 mm, compressed, rugulose, margin thick with toothed projections from both surfaces. Fl and fr. autumn. 2n = 22.

Forests or thickets along valleys, thickets on mountain slopes; 400-1600 m. Guangxi, S Yunnan [Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka; N Australia].

The roots, fruit, and seeds are used medicinally.

One of us (Jeffrey) treats this taxon as Trichosanthes cucumerina var. cucumerina.