Kingdom Plantae Family Caricaceae Scientific name Vasconcellea candicans | Order Brassicales Genus Vasconcellea Rank Species | |
Similar Vasconcellea parviflora, Vasconcellea monoica, Vasconcellea goudotiana, Vasconcellea, Vasconcellea chilensis | ||
Vasconcellea candicans is a small tree native to the western slopes of the Andes in southern Ecuador and Peru.
Contents
Description
Small dioecious shrub or tree to 8 m high. Leaves ovate or almost rounded, with a slightly cordate base, margin entire or sometimes sinuately dentate and obtuse or acute apex; palmately veined; glabrous above, hairy below. Male inflorescence a small cyme with many flowers; tiny 5- or 7-lobed calyx; 5- or 7- lobed corolla; stamens twice as many as the lobes of the corolla, with linear-oblong anthers. Flowers greenish to purplish. Fruit ellipsoidal, yellow green at maturity, 10-18 x 4-6 cm; many seeds.
Vernacular names
Chungay (in Ecuador).
Mito, uliucana, jerju, odeque (in Peru).
Uses
Edible fruit.
Cultivation
Propagated by seeds.
References
Vasconcellea candicans Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA