Momordica trifolia
Content
Description
Slender perennial climber, roots not known, glabrous;
Leaves:
Flowers in male solitary or occasionally up to 3 per node, (sub)glabrous;
Fruit solitary, stalk slender, c. 2 cm long (Rumphius, t. 152, f. 2);
Seeds few, c. 5 per fruit, brown-black, thick but flat, circular in outline, c. 15 mm diam., c. 8 mm thick;
Distribution
Ambon present, Asia-Tropical: Maluku (Maluku present), West Seram present
Moluccas (West Seram and Ambon).
Taxonomy
Momordica trifolia is a local endemic species in West Seram and Ambon of which, beside Eyma 2794 (male and separate fruit), no recent collections are known. In its area it occurs together with resembling but stouter M. cochinchinensis, a species with 3-foliolate forms known from outside the Moluccas, readily distinct by much larger flowers, larger fruits, and conspicuous glands on the petiole.