Trichosanthes celebica
Content
Description
Climber to 10 m long, early glabrescent, at first with sparse minute hairs, leafy stem 1.5-3 mm diam.;
Leaves:
Fruit ripening red (possibly not paler striped), ovoid, 6.5 by 4.5 cm, apex c. 2 mm beaked;
Seeds blackish, compressed, elliptic, 12-13 by 4-7 by 2-3 mm, margin absent, edge entire.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Maluku (Maluku present); Sulawesi (Sulawesi present), Kendari and Lake Matano area present, NW Buru present
Malesia: Sulawesi (Kendari and Lake Matano area), Moluccas (NW Buru).
Taxonomy
1 The fruits of T. celebica resemble those of T. wawrae, but in the latter species the exocarp is thinner and the seed larger, 15-20 by 8-15 mm.
2 The few specimens on which the present description of T. celebica is based are variable, e.g. in the leaf blade glands, fruiting pedicel, and seeds, so possibly a second species may be involved; a redescription is in preparation.