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Ivy Gomphogyne
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Ivy Gomphogyne
ative Photo: Nidhan Singh
Common name: Ivy Gomphogyne • Mizo: Hringtuidawn
Botanical name: Gomphogyne cissiformis    Family: Cucurbitaceae (Pumpkin family)
Synonyms: Gomphogyne cissiformis var. cissiformis, Gomphogyne alleizettei

Ivy Gomphogyne is a climber with stem hairless or slightly puberulent. Leaves are membranous; leafr-stalks 3-6 cm, glabrous; leaflets obovate-oblong, glabrous, median leaflets 4-6 × 1.5-2 cm, lateral leaflets shorter, base attenuate, margin crenate-dentate, apex acuminate or acute; petiolules 3-9 cm. Tendrils slender, 2-fid. Plants monoecious. Male flowers in racemes or panicles; rachis slender, flexuous, 10-30 cm, glabrous; pedicels capillary-like, often fasciculate, 1-3 mm, with bracteoles at base; calyx segments narrowly ovate, 1-1.5 mm, acute; corolla segments ovate-lanceolate, 2.5-3 × ca. 1 mm, 3-veined, entire or indistinctly dentate. Female flowers in panicles 5-12 cm, or fascicled in axils of leaves; pedicels filiform, reflexed; bracteoles subulate; ovary funnelform. Fruit pale green, turbinate, 12-16 × 8-11 mm, apex truncate, 3-longitudinally dehiscent, 1-3-seeded. Seeds dark brown, oblong, 7(-12) × 3-4 mm, 1-2 mm thick, verrucose, base acute, margin dentate, apex truncate. Ivy Gomphogyne is found in forests on mountainsides, in the Himalayas, in Bhutan, India, Nepal, at altitudes pf 2100-2800 m.

Identification credit: Nidhan Singh Photographed on Gobindghat-Ghangriya route, Uttarakhand.

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