Cyclanthera pedata Schrad., Cucurbitaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Threat only at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: wild cucumber

French: concombre grimpant

Spanish: achocha, caiba, caigua, caihau, caygua, pepino de comer

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Annual vines to several meters long, the stems branched, glabrous; leaves on glabrous petioles 1-8 cm long, blades broadly ovate to orbicular, pedately lobate, margins serrulate to deeply dentate, essentially glabrous, 2.5-20 cm long and about as broad, lateral leaflets pedately lobed; staminate flowers: in panicles with few-several (rarely many) flowers confined to upper half or less of peduncle, receptacle to 3.5 mm wide, sepals obscure or to 2 mm long, corolla obscurely papillate, whitish, 3-6 mm across, filament column to 0.75 mm long, androecial head to 1.5 mm wide; pistillate flowers: subsessile, stigmas sessile, to 2.5 mm broad, with a depressed center; fruiting peduncles 0.5-2 cm long; fruits greenish white, striate, lacrimiform and somewhat gibbous, not explosively dehiscent, to 15 cm long and 6 cm in diameter, setae none or few, confined to abaxial part of the fruit; seeds black, more or less turtle-shaped, 12-16 mm long" (Nash, 1976; p. 336).

Habitat/ecology:  In Guatemala, "perhaps only in cultivation or as an escape, about 1,500 m" (Nash, 1976; p. 336).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Origin South America, cultivated in the tropics (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005) infraspecific: 'var. edulis'
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced cultivated	Charles Darwin Research Station (2005) infraspecific: 'var. edulis'

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2007)

Comments:  Reported as possibly an invasive plant in the Galápagos Islands per Charles Darwin Research Station.

Additional information:  Additional online information about Cyclanthera pedata is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Taxonomic information about Cyclanthera pedata may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Nash, Dorothy L. 1976. Flora of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part XI, No. 4. Chicago Natural History Museum.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2007. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.