Vasconcellea candicans explained

Vasconcellea candicans is a small tree native to the western slopes of the Andes in southern Ecuador and Peru.[1]

Description

Small dioecious shrub or tree to 8 m high. Leaves ovate or almost rounded, with a slightly cordate base, margin entire or sometimes sinuately dentate and obtuse or acute apex; palmately veined; glabrous above, hairy below.[2] Male inflorescence a small cyme with many flowers; tiny 5- or 7-lobed calyx; 5- or 7- lobed corolla; stamens twice as many as the lobes of the corolla, with linear-oblong anthers. Flowers greenish to purplish. Fruit ellipsoidal, yellow green at maturity, 10-18 x 4-6 cm; many seeds.

Vernacular names

Chungay (in Ecuador).

Mito, uliucana, jerju, odeque (in Peru).

Uses

Edible fruit.

Cultivation

Propagated by seeds.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Vasconcella candicans. www.tropicallab.ugent.be. 2016-06-12.
  2. Gray. Asa. 1854. United States Exploring Expedition. v.15:pt.1. 640–641.