Authority:

Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

Family:

Cucurbitaceae

Description:

Species Description - Herbaceous vine to 8 m long; stems slender, nearly cylindrical, striate, glabrous to puberulent, many-branched; tendrils axillary and simple. Leaf blades 3-11 x 3-10 cm, membranous, puberulent on both surfaces, chartaceous, with coarse hairs on both surfaces, deeply 5-lobed, the lobes elliptic to obovate-ovate, with obtuse or acute apices, the base cordate, the margins crenate and denticulate; petioles slender, as long as the blade. Flowers solitary, long-pediceled; bract ovate to kidney-shaped, on lower portion of pedicel. Calyx bell-shaped, yellowish green, 10-12 mm long, with lanceolate lobes; corolla light yellow, rotate, with 5 spreading petals, 1-1.7 cm long; stamens free, with short filaments; ovary ellipsoid and muricate. Capsule ellipsoid-angular to fusiform-angular, with thornlike projections (muricate), 3-5 cm long, turning from green to orange-yellow, opening from the apex along 3 valves, exposing the seeds, which hang freely from the fruit wall. Seeds few to many, flattened and beaked, covered with a bright red, juicy aril.

Discussion:

Common names: jumbie pumkin, maiden apple, old maid.

Note: The ground seeds are said to be poisonous. Cultivated species: The common squash or pumpkin [Cucurbita moschata (Lam.) Poir.] has been collected from spontaneous individuals (A3118); however, it does not seem to be persistent

Distribution:

Virgin Gorda Virgin Islands South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America|