Family: Cucurbitaceae

Common Name: कोहळा

Etymology - Genus: Named for Count Giuseppe Benincasa, 16th century Italian botanist who founded the Botanic Garden at Pisa

Etymology - Species: With bristly hairs

Ecosystem: Annual

Origin: Native

Location: India

Description: Annual climber, grows very rapidly completing its lifecycle with a season. Stem grows thick with sharp hairs.Simple leaf with a presence of tendril at the leaf node. Tendril coils around the support.Pubescent leaf with 5-7 irregular shape lobes.Male and female flowers appear singly in a leaf axil. Male with long peduncle and female wit short peduncle.Male and female flowers are born on same plant. Bright yellow colour flower look spectacular.Female flower has a small round ovary below the calyx.Fruit is greenish grey, and grows into a huge and heavy round shape at maturity.Many flat seeds are embedded in a white pulp.

Root type: Taproot

Stem Appearance: Climber

Stem Cross Section: Angled

Stem Texture: Green with sharp hair

Root-Stem-Bark Description: Annual climber, grows very rapidly completing its lifecycle with a season. Stem grows thick with sharp hairs.

Leaf - Characters

Attachment: Petiolate

Stipules: Tendrillar

Leaf Type: Simple

Phyllotaxy: Alternate-Spiral

Leaf Description: Simple leaf with a presence of tendril at the leaf node. Tendril coils around the support.

Leaflet - Characters

Lamina: Palmate

Lamina Bases:

Lamina Margins: Serrate

Lamina Apices: Acute

Lamina Texture: Pubescent

Venation: Reticulate-Unicostate

Leaflet Description: Pubescent leaf with 5-7 irregular shape lobes.

Fruit type: Berry

Fruit type Description: Fruit is greenish grey, and grows into a huge and heavy round shape at maturity.

Seed Type: Dicotyledon

Germination type:

Dispersion Method:

Preprocessing for germination:

Germination time:

Seed shelf life:

Germination %:

Seed Description: Many flat seeds are embedded in a white pulp.