Coccinia intermedia Holstein, PhytoKeys 7: 28. 2011.

Holstein, Norbert, 2015, Monograph of Coccinia (Cucurbitaceae), PhytoKeys 54, pp. 1-166 : 84

8. Coccinia intermedia Holstein, PhytoKeys 7: 28. 2011.

Coccinia intermedia Type: Benin. Atakora: Natitingou, Kouaténa (Perma), 10°12.00'N; 1°30.18'E, river bed, female, fl, fr, 3 Oct 2000, A. Akoègninou et al. 3625 (Holotype: WAG! [WAG0278370]; isotype: WAG [WAG0278369]).

Coccinia intermedia Type: Ghana. Greater Accra: Shai Hills Game Reserve, monoecious, fl, fr, 25 May 1976, J.B. Hall & J.M. Lock GC 46016 (Paratypes: K! (4), MO!).

Coccinia intermedia Type: Ivory Coast. Zanzan: Bouna, male, fl, 10 Aug 1967, C. Geerling & J. Bokdam 662 (Paratypes: MO!, WAG! [WAG0225492]).

Coccinia intermedia Type: Togo. Maritime: between Lomé and Aného, female, fr, 25 Jun 1994, L. Aké Assi 18983 [typographical error in orig. publication stated 18982] (Paratype: MO!).

Description.

Perennial climber. Stem length unknown, but likely several meters, glabrous, at maturity with clear to white pustules. Petioles 2.8-10.8 cm, glabrous, when older with clear to white pustules. Leaves 6-15 × 7-18 cm, shallowly to profoundly 5-lobate, more or less auriculate. Margin conspicuously dentate, blackening when dried. Apex acute. Upper leaf surface glabrous with clear to whitish pustules. Lower leaf surface glabrous, often with small dark glands near the leaf base. Probracts up to 2.5 mm long. Tendrils simple or bifid. Male flowers in few-flowered racemes, likely sometimes accompanied by a single flower. Common peduncle up to 1 cm, pedicels in racemose flowers 2-4 mm, each glabrous. Bracts up to 1.5 mm. Perianth tube glabrous, calyx lobes c. 1.5 mm, lineal to narrowly triangulate, erect with slightly recurved tips. Corolla 1.6 cm long, pale reddish-yellow to yellow, lobes 0.7 cm. Filament column and anther head not seen, pollen sacs yellowish. Female flowers 1-3 clustered (strongly reduced raceme). Pedicels 0.6-1.2 cm, glabrous. Hypanthium tube glabrous, calyx lobes and corolla like in male flowers. Ovary glabrous. Style and stigmas not seen. Fruit 4.5 × 2.5 cm, elliptical to oblong. Unripe fruit green with pale green longitudinal mottling, ripe orange?, more likely becoming red via orange ripening stage. Size of mature seeds unknown (≥ 5.5 × 3.5 × 1.3 mm (L/W/H)), symmetrically (to slightly asymmetrically) obovate, face flat.

Phenology.

Flowering time: May, August, October.

Distribution.

Fig. 31. NE Ivory Coast, SE Ghana (likely also in the north), S Togo (likely also in the north), NW Benin. Elevation sea level to 415 m. Wooded grasslands (semi-humid savanna), woodlands, dry forests, in riverbeds.

Remarks.

This species is rather cryptic and imperfectly known. The leaves seem to develop conspicuous margin teeth during maturity, like e.g., Coccinia grandis , but the darkish sublaminal glands differ from that species. The erect calyx lobes with slightly recurved tips appear to be the most indicative character for Coccinia intermedia . The clustered female flowers and the fruits link to Coccinia barteri , from which it, among other characters, differs in ecology. Two J.B. Hall & J.M. Lock GC 46016 specimens from K have male and female flowers/fruits on one twig and are thus monoecious. As all other Coccinia intermedia collections are dioecious, this could be a case of "leaky dioecy" ( Baker and Cox 1984), which also has been observed in other Cucurbitaceae ( Schaefer and Renner 2010).