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Marong (Trichosanthes scabra)

Dlium Marong (Trichosanthes scabra)

Marong (Trichosanthes scabra) is a species of plant in Cucurbitaceae, herbs grow on the surface, lots of sun, green-yellow stems and white solid hair, no branching tendrils, round or egg-shaped fruits and ripe red.

T. scabra has a leaf stalk for a length of 1.1-2.5 cm and a diameter of 0.2-0.5 mm. The leaves are circular in shape, wide, five shallow lobes, basal heart, rounded or somewhat tapered ends and toothed edges. The upper surface is bumpy, rough and has short hair, while the lower surface has dense and long hair.





Single male flower, solitary and 6-7 mm long. Persistent stalk, 30-70 mm long, hypantium-shaped, narrowed down and gray-haired. The triangular petals are wide and 4-5 mm long. Round egg crown, stamens in hypantium tubes, filament length 2-2.5 mm and bald.

Solitary female flowers, 25 mm stem length, round fruit candidates, long hair, cylindrical hypantium tubes, white crowns and 15 mm long. Pistils have a length of 7-10 mm, head upright with a length of 2 mm.

Spherical or egg-shaped fruits, 3-5 cm long, 2-3 cm in diameter, 4.5 cm long stems, 0.8 mm in diameter, short-haired, patterned in green and light green forming lines, orange-red when ripe, fleshy, seeds brown and protected by the placenta.

This plant grows in a place with lots of sun, roadside and near a river. Flowering and fruiting throughout the year. The stems are brewed to improve appetite and increase stamina, the leaves are used as rheumatic medicine.

TAXON

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Tribe: Sicyoeae
Genus: Trichosanthes L. in Sp. Pl.: 1008 (1753)
Species: Trichosanthes scabra Lour. in Fl. Cochinch.: 589 (1790)
Variety: Trichosanthes scabra var. pectinata (W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes) H.J.de Boer, Trichosanthes scabra var. penicaudii (Gagnep.) H.J.de Boer, Trichosanthes scabra var. scabra

HOMOTYPIC SYNONYMS

Gymnopetalum scabrum (Lour.) W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes in Reinwardtia 12: 268 (2008)

PUBLICATIONS

Lê, T.C. (2003). Danh lục các loài thực vật Việt Nam 2: 1-1203. Hà Nội : Nhà xuất bản Nông nghiệp.

Mao, A.A. & Dash, S.S. (2020). Flowering Plants of India an Annotated Checklist (Dicotyledons) 1: 1-970. Botanical Survey of India.

Newman, M., Ketphanh, S., Svengsuksa, B., Thomas, P., Sengdala, K., Lamxay, V. & Armstrong, K. (2007). A checklist of the vascular plants of Lao PDR: 1-394. Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh.

Renner, S.S. & Pandey, A.K. (2013). The Cucurbitaceae of India: Accepted names, synonyms, geographic distribution, and information on images and DNA sequences. PhytoKeys 20: 53-118.

de Boer, H.J. & Thulin, M. (2012). Synopsis of Trichosanthes (Cucurbitaceae) based on recent molecular phylogenetic data. PhytoKeys 12: 23-33.

VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (simplified): 凤瓜
Chinese (traditional): 鳳瓜
English: Marong, Dummela
Indonesia: Marong
Java: Marong
Thai: ขี้กาขาว

Aryo Bandoro
Dlium TheDlium
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dlium

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