Gymnopetalum
Content
Description
Annual or perennial, climbing or widely-creeping herbs, frequently rooting at the nodes, subglabrous or (densely) hairy, leafy stem (1-)2 mm diam.;
Leaves:
Flowers:
Fruit ripening orange or red, globose or ovoid-oblong, (2-)3-6 cm long, smooth or (low) ribbed, mesocarp yellow, soft-canose, pulp greenish black.
Seeds numerous, ± compressed, not or little ornamented, margin present or absent, edge entire.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka present), North India present, South China present, South India present, east to East Malesia present
A genus of 4 species in South India, Sri Lanka, North India, South China, east to East Malesia; in Malesia 3 species.
Taxonomy
The type species of Gymnopetalum is G. tubiflorum from Sri Lanka. Cogniaux, 1881, divided the genus into two sections: sect. Tripodanthera (Roem.) Cogn. to which the three Malesian species belong and sect. Gymnopetalum. Based on molecular data Gymnopetalum is nested within Trichosanthes (Kocyan et al, 2007) with the Malesian species wide apart from the single species G. tubiflorum.
Citation
Arn. 2008 – In: Fl. Thailand: 442
C.B.Clarke 1879 – In: Hook.f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 2: 611
Ridl. 1922 – In: Fl. Malay Penin.: 846
W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes 2006 – In: Blumea: 282
Backer 1964 – In: Backer & Bakh.f., Fl. Java 1: 302
Kocyan et al. 2007 – In: Mol. Phyl. Evol.: 553
Cogn. 1881 – In: A.DC. & C.DC., Monogr. Phan. 3: 387