Microsoft Word - S-2. Cucumis hystrix.doc Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 19(2): 205-207, 2012 (December) - Short communication © 2012 Bangladesh Association of Plant Taxonomists CUCUMIS HYSTRIX CHAKRAV. (CUCURBITACEAE) - A NEW ANGIOSPERMIC RECORD FOR BANGLADESH SARDER NASIR UDDIN1, BUSHRA KHAN AND MOMTAZ MOHAL MIRZA Bangladesh National Herbarium, Chiriakhana Road, Mirpur-1, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh. Keywords: Cucumis hystrix; New record; Bangladesh. Cucumis L. (Cucurbitaceae) consists of about 35 species occurring mainly in Africa and extending with few species into South-east Asia and Australia (Kirkbride, 1993). In Bangladesh, Rahman (2008) listed three species of the genus, viz. Cucumis callosus (Rottb.) Cogn., Cucumis melo L. and Cucumis sativus L. Recently, we have collected one wild specimen of Cucumis from Pharua reserve forest under Rangamati district and identified as Cucumis hystrix Chakrav. The species was not reported earlier from the territory of Bangladesh in the relevant literatures of this region, viz. Clarke (1883), Prain (1903), Heinig (1925), Sinclair (1956), Mia and Khan (1995), Rahman and Hassan (1995), Rahman (1996, 2004a,b), Uddin et al. (1998), Uddin and Rahman (1999), Khan and Huq (2001), Uddin et al. (2003), Tutul et al. (2010) and Arefin et al. (2011). Hence, it is herewith reported as a new record for Bangladesh. The voucher specimen of the species has been deposited at Bangladesh National Herbarium (DACB). The detailed description and illustration of the species based on fresh material are given below. Cucumis hystrix Chakrav., J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 50: 869, pl. 7 (1952); Chakrav., Rec. Bot. Surv. India 17(1): 110 (1959); Jeffrey, Cucur. E. Asia: 22 (1980); Kirkbride, Biosys. Mono. Genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae): 86 (1993). Cucumis muriculatus Chakrav., J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 50: 869, pl. 4 (1952). (Fig. 1) Annual, monoecious climber. Stem angular-sulcate, setose hairy, tendril simple, unbranched. Leaves petiolate; petioles 2-8 cm long, dense greenish hairy; lamina ovate, 5-15 × 4-14 cm, shallowly (3-) 5-angular or lobed, base cordate, apex acute, margin serrate-dentate, densely brown-red setose-hairy on both surfaces. Male flowers: 2-7-fascicled; pedicels 2-5 mm long, hairy; receptacle-tube turbinate-urceolate, 5 × 2 mm; sepals 2-3 mm long; corolla yellow, 8-10 mm long, tube 3-4 mm long, lobes 5-6 mm long, veins hairy; stamens inserted about halfway in the receptacle tube; filaments 1 mm long, glabrous; anthers 2.0-2.5 mm long, connective extension up to 1 mm long; disc subglobose, c. 2 mm in diam. Female flowers: solitary, pedicels 1-5 mm long, hairy; ovary narrowly ellipsoid-ovoid, 8-10 × 2-3 mm, antrorse-strigose; perianths as in male flowers, but sepals somewhat broader; styles 2-3 mm long, stigma 2.5 mm long, consisting of 3 sessile carnose lobes, connate at base, lobes papillose; staminodes c. 1 mm long, inserted about halfway the receptacle tube. Fruits pendent, green or yellowish-green, 5-10 × 2-4 cm, ellipsoid, tapering at both ends, shortly beaked at apex, aculeate tubercled by dense, soft, spine like 2-5 mm long protuberances, fruiting pedicels 2-10 mm long. Seeds numerous, obovate, 3.5-5.0 × 2.0-2.5 mm, smooth, pale-yellow. Flowering and fruiting period: September-December. Ecology: Grows in scrub jungles, edges of forests, and along roadsides, over granite bedrock as well as on limestone, up to 1800 m altitude. Corresponding author. E-mail: nsarder@yahoo.com 206 UDDIN et al. Fig. 1. Cucumis hystrix Chakrav.: A. twig with fruit, B. male flower, C. L.S. of male flower, D. female flower, E. L.S. female flower. Specimen examined: Rangamati: Bilaichari, Pharua Reserve Forest, Monlovi chara, 19.10.2008, S.N. Uddin, B. Khan and M. M. Mirza, N-2998 (DACB). Distribution: North-east India (Assam), Myanmar, Thailand, and South-west China (Yunnan). Uses: Local people eat unripe fruit as a cooked vegetable. References Arefin, K., Rahman, M.M., Uddin, M.Z. and Hassan, M.A. 2011. Angiosperm flora of Satchhari National Park, Habigonj, Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 18(2): 117-140. Heinig, R.L. 1925. List of Plants of Chittagong Collectorate and Hill Tracts. The Bengal Government Branch Press, Darjeeling, pp. 1-84. Clarke, C. B. 1879. Cucurbitaceae. In: Hooker, J.D., Flora of British India. Vol. 2. L. Reeve & Co. Ltd., England, pp. 604-635 CUCUMIS HYSTRIX CHAKRAV. (CUCURBITACEAE) 207 Khan, M.S. and Huq, A.M. 2001. The vascular flora of Chunati Wildlife Sanctuary in south Chittagong, Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 8(1): 47-64. Kirkbride, J.H. 1993. Biosystematic Monograph of the genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae). Parkway publishers, Boone, North Carolina, p. 159. Mia, M.M.K. and Khan, B. 1995. First list of angiospermic taxa of Bangladesh not included in Hooker's Flora of British India and Prain's Bengal Plants. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 2(1&2): 24-45. Prain, D. 1903 (rep. ed. 1963). Bengal Plants. Vol. 1. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, pp. 374-385. Rahman, M.O. 1996. An annotated checklist of Cucurbits of Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 3(1): 57-65. Rahman, M.O. 2004a. Second list of angiospermic taxa not included in Hooker's 'Flora of British India' and Prain's 'Bengal Plants' - Series I. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 1l(1): 77-82. Rahman, M.O. 2004b. Second list of angiospermic taxa not included in Hooker's 'Flora of British India' and Prain's 'Bengal Plants' - Series II. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 11(2): 49-56. Rahman, M.O. 2008. In: Ahmed, Z.U., Hassan, M.A., Begum, Z.N.T., Khondker, M., Kabir, S.M.H., Ahmed, M., Ahmed, A.T.A. and Rahman, A.K.T. (eds), Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna of Bangladesh, Vol. 7. Angiosperms: Dicotyledons (Cucurbitaceae). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Dhaka. pp. 291-325. Rahman, M.O. and Hassan, M.A. 1995. Angiospermic flora of Bhawal National Park, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 2(1&2): 47-97. Sinclair, J. 1956. The flora of Cox's Bazar, East Pakistan. Bull. Bot. Soc. Beng. 9(2): 84-116. Tutul, E., Uddin, M.Z., Rahman, M.O. and Hassan, M.A. 2010. Angiospermic flora of Runctia sal forest, Bangladesh. II. Magnoliopsida (Dicots). Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 17(1): 33-53. Uddin, S.B. and Rahman. M.A. 1999. Angiospermic flora of Himchari National Park, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 6(1): 31-68. Uddin, M.Z., Hassan, M.A. and Khan, M.S. 2003. An annotated checklist of angiospermic flora of Rema- Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary (Habiganj) in Bangladesh IIa: Magnoliopsida (Dicots). Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 10(1): 79-94. Uddin,. S.N., Khan, M.S., Hassan, M.A. and Alam, M.K. 1998. An annotated checklist of angiospermic flora of Sita Pahar at Kaptai in Bangladesh. Bangladesh J. Plant Taxon. 5(1): 13-46. (Manuscript received on 30 April 2012; revised on 5 November 2012)