Actinostemma tenerum Griff., Account Bot. Coll. Cantor: 25 (1845) (syn: Actinostemma chaffanjonii H.Lév. ; Actinostemma lobatum f. longilobum Kom. ; Actinostemma lobatum f. subintegrum (Kom.) Kitag. ; Actinostemma lobatum var. subintegrum Kom. ; Actinostemma parvifolium Cogn. ; Karivia longicirrha Miq. ; Momordica paina Buch.-Ham. ex G.Don ; Sicyos oxyanthus Wall.);
.
Himalaya to Temp. E. Asia: Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, India, Korea, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand, Tibet, Vietnam, West Himalaya as per POWO;
.
Common name: Tender Ray-Flower Gourd
.
Scandent herbs; branches thin, slender, slightly pilose when young, glabrous. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral; petiole ca. 2-6 cm, filiform, slightly puberulent; lamina ca. 2-8 x 1-4 cm, narrowly ovate to sagittately trilobed, deeply emarginate at base, acuminate at apex, margin minutely denticulate, punctate-scabrid above, glabrous beneath. Male inflorescence racemose, sometimes paniculate, shortly villous, many flowered, main rachis ca. 1-13 cm, shortly villous; bract linear, ca. 0.3 cm, villous; calyx segments linear-lanceolate, ca. 2-3 × 0.5-1 mm, margin dentate; corolla segments lanceolate, ca. 2-3 × 1-1.5 mm at base, scarcely villous, 1- or 3-veined, apex narrowly subulate; staminal filaments slightly dilated at apex, ca. 0.5 mm, pilose; anthers ca. 0.3 mm. Female flowers solitary or fasciculate; ca. 2 cm long; calyx and corolla as in male flowers; ovary subglobose, 1-celled, verrucose. Fruits ca. 1.5-2 cm long, ca. 1 cm thick, ovoid-conical, half superior, covered with rough point. Seeds ca. 1-2 x 0.7-0.8 cm, reticulate.
Flowering: July-September. Fruiting: September-November.
Growing on watersides.
(Attributions: India: Assam, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Western Himalayas; Japan, Korea, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam as per India Biodiversity Portal)
.
Actinostemma tenerum: 2 high res. images.
it is climber plant and growing near moist soil, flower are dioecious and male flower are large in number,
Place of photo Bijnor Uttar Pradesh India
Date of photo 19 October 2022
Actinostemma species. Please post more closeups for the correct ID as there are subsspecies in this species.
Yes, matches as per FoC illustration.
1 high res. image
.
References:
POWO Catalogue of Life GBIF (High resolution specimens) Flora of China FOC illustration Flowers of India India Biodiversity Portal
