| Cucumis ficifolius | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Cucurbitales |
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Genus: | Cucumis |
| Species: | C. ficifolius |
| Binomial name | |
| Cucumis ficifolius A.Rich. (1851) | |
| Synonyms | |
Cucumis ficifolius is a dioecious flowering vine in the family Cucurbitaceae. [1] The specific epithet (ficifolius) comes from Latin fici (= fig) and folius (= leaf).
Cucumis ficifolius is native to Africa and is found from Mauritania south to Ghana and Ivory Coast and east to the Horn of Africa and Tanzania and southwest to South Africa, as well as the Sinai Peninsula. [2]
It is normally a prostrate plant with coarse, hairy stems and leaves. The leaf shape is ovate in outline and weakly cordate or subtruncate at the base and has 3–5 rounded lobes. The flowers occur solitarily and in males have yellow petals that measure 4–7 millimeters long each and in females measure 5–9 millimeters long each. The fruit is ovate and measures 23–50 millimeters (0.91–1.97 inches) in length and is green-yellow in color and is covered in small pustules that may look similar to spikes. [3] The entire plant (stems, leaves, fruits, roots) is poisonous upon ingestion. [4]
The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera. Those most important to humans are the following:
Adonis is a genus of about 20–30 species of flowering plants of the crowfoot family, Ranunculaceae, native to Europe and Asia.
Cucumis metuliferus, commonly called the African horned cucumber, horned melon, spiked melon, jelly melon, or kiwano, is an annual vine in the cucumber and melon family Cucurbitaceae. Its fruit has horn-like spines, hence the name "horned melon". The ripe fruit has orange skin and lime-green, jelly-like flesh. C. metuliferus is native to Southern Africa, in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Angola.
Solanum mauritianum is a small tree or shrub native to South America, including Northern Argentina, Southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Its common names include earleaf nightshade, woolly nightshade, flannel weed, bugweed, tobacco weed, tobacco bush, wild tobacco and kerosene plant.
Zantedeschia is a genus of eight species of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi. The genus has been introduced on all continents except Antarctica. Common names include arum lily for Z. aethiopica and calla and calla lily for Z. elliottiana and Z. rehmannii, although members of the genus are neither true lilies of Liliaceae, true Arums, nor true Callas. The colourful flowers and leaves of both species and cultivars are greatly valued and commonly grown as ornamental plants.
Thunbergia alata, commonly called black-eyed Susan vine, is a herbaceous perennial climbing plant species in the family Acanthaceae. It is native to Eastern Africa, and has been naturalized in other parts of the world.
Momordica balsamina is a tendril-bearing annual vine native to the tropical regions of Africa, introduced and invasive in Asia, Australia, Central America, and North America, where they have been found in some parts of Florida. In 1810, Thomas Jefferson planted this vine in his flower borders at Monticello along with larkspur, poppies, and nutmeg.
Physalis heterophylla, colloquial name clammy groundcherry, is a herbaceous plant that is a member of the family Solanaceae. It is native to North America, occurring primarily in the eastern United States and Canada. It is known to occur in all contiguous states except for Nevada and California. It is found mainly in habitats such as dry or mesic prairies, gravel hills and rises, sandy or rocky soils, and waste places such as roadsides.
Antirrhinum filipes is an annual species of North American snapdragon, usually known by the common name yellow twining snapdragon. This herbaceous plant is native to deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it is common.
Dendrosicyos is a monotypic genus in the plant family Cucurbitaceae. The only species is Dendrosicyos socotranus, the cucumber tree. The species is endemic to the island of Socotra in Yemen, and is the only species in the Cucurbitaceae to grow in a tree form. The species name was originally spelled D. socotrana, but this is corrected to masculine grammatical gender according to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.
Euphorbia balsamifera is a flowering plant in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. It is distributed in the Canary Islands and the western Sahara. It is the vegetable symbol of the island of Lanzarote. Euphorbia adenensis has been treated as a subspecies of this species.
Momordica foetida is a perennial climbing vine native of tropical Africa, closely related to the bitter melon and balsam apple. Its species name ("bad-smelling") refers to its unpleasant smell. It was previously named M. morkorra and M. cordata (Cogn.)
Drosera peruensis is a carnivorous plant of the genus Drosera, commonly known as the Peruvian sundew. This Drosera species was first identified in Peru in 2002 by Tânia Regina dos Santos Silva and Mireya D. Correa following work to update the genus Drosera for the reference text, Flora Neotropica..
Euryops brownei is a woody herb or shrub of ½–3 m (1⅔–10 ft) high, with yellow flowerheads of both ray and disc florets, and small, narrow leaves, belonging to the daisy family. The species is native to the highlands of northern Tanzania and central Kenya.
Cucumis althaeoides is a vine in the family Cucurbitaceae that is native to parts of Northern Australia.
Cucumis dipsaceus, also known as Arabian cucumber or hedgehog cucumber, is an annual climbing herb that can be found in tropical and arid locations. The plant is native to eastern Africa, first found in Sudan, southern Egypt, and Ethiopia. The developed fruits of the plant change from green to yellow and contain many seeds. The hairs that cover the oblong fruits nickname this species the “hedgehog cucumber”.
Cucumis hystrix is a monoecious climbing vine in the family Cucurbitaceae. The specific epithet is Neo-Latin for "porcupine".
Cucumis prophetarum is a dioecious and prostrate or climbing perennial vine in the family Cucurbitaceae. It is not to be confused with Cucumis prophetarumMey. or Cucumis prophetarumWall., synonyms for Acanthosicyos naudinianus and Cucumis callosus, respectively. The specific epithet (prophetarum) comes from Latin propheta, meaning "prophet".
Plectranthus purpuratus or cliff spurflower is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to South Africa's Kwazulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces, as well as eSwatini. The name is frequently misapplied to Plectranthus ciliatus, presumably because both have purple-backed leaves.