Koval
Scientific Name :
Coccinia grandis (L.) Voight
Synonym(s) :
Bryonia acerifolia D.Dietr.
Local/Common name(s) :
Koval
Family :
Cucurbitaaceae
Habit :
Climber
Flowering/Fruiting Time :
March-December
Habitat :
Dry deciduous forests and wastelands, also cultivated
Endemic :
No
Status (IUCN) :
Distribution :
Peninsular India and Sri Lanka
Nativity :
Indigenous
Uses :
Medicine, Food
Description (Morphology) :
Perennial, climbing and widely spreading, sometimes prostrate, bright green. Stem much branched, cylindrical, glabrous or white scaly. Petiole slender, striate, 2-5 cm long. Leaves 5-10 cm long, equally broad, cordate, usually entire to 5-angular with few glistering glands on both sides of the midrib towards the base. Probract small. Flowers large, white, c. 4 cm long, pedicellate, solitary, male and female on different plants. Fruit cylindrical or fusiform, 2.5-5 x 1.2-2.5 cm, bright scarlet when ripe, slightly beaked, many seeded. Seeds asymmetrically pyriform in outline, c. 6 x 4 mm, compressed.