Cucumis pustulatus

Naud. ex Hook. f.

CucurbitaceaeFruit

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(c) Hillary somy, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The fruit is eaten.

Where to Find It

It is a tropical plant. It grows between 300-1,600 m above sea level.

Africa, East Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tanzania,

Countries: United Arab Emirates, Angola, Burkina Faso, Bahrain, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Comoros, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Syria, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

How to Identify

A pumpkin family plant. It is a climbing herb. It grows 2 m long. The leaves are broadly oval and 3-10 cm long by 3-8 cm wide. There are teeth around the edge. There are 5 lobes spread like fingers on a hand and they are oval to triangle shaped with the central one being largest. The fruit is narrowly oval to cylinder shaped and 5-7 cm long by 3-5 cm wide. It is green and turns yellow when ripe. The seeds are 6 mm long.

Names & Synonyms

Qalfoon

Cucumis figarei var. ficifolius Naudin

References (2)

Lulekal, E., et al, 2011, Wild edible plants in Ethiopia: a review on their potential to combat food insecurity. Afrika Focus - Vol. 24, No 2. pp 71-121
Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145

What to Eat

Where to Find It

How to Identify

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