Cucurbitaceae FAMILY

Lagenaria sphaerica

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

Mature fruits are poisonous, bitter-tasting, and release strong-smelling volatile compounds[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The Kamba of Kenya use the fruits as a poison for cockroaches and rats[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. A case of lethal human poisoning has been reported from South Africa[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].

Botanical Description

Lagenaria sphaerica is a perennial climbing plant producing new stems annually that can be 10 metres or more long from a woody rootstock. The stems scramble over the ground, climbing into the surrounding vegetation where they attach themselves by means of tendrils[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials. Mature fruits are sold for medicinal use in local markets in South Africa[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ]. The plant is grown as an ornamental in gardens[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeEast Africa - east DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, southern Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, S. Africa.

HabitatForest margins; evergreen and deciduous forests; riverine woodland; river banks and in dry river beds; also in dry scrub thickets and ground-water forests; also sometimes recorded from swamp forests, littoral dunes and maritime scrub on the seashore[ 295 Title PlantZAfrica.com Publication Author Website http://www.plantzafrica.com Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent site giving detailed descriptions and uses of many S. African plants. ].