Acanthosicyos horridus
Acanthosicyos horridus
| Order | [[]] |
|---|---|
| Family | [[]] |
| Genus | Acanthosicyos |
2n =
Origin : area of origin
wild or cultivated
Contents
Description
1, habit of fruiting plant; 2, male flower; 3, female flower; 4, seeds. Redrawn and adapted by Iskak Syamsudin
fruit
male flower, spines and stem
developing fruits on female plant
male flower
nara field
Popular names
Classification
Cultivars
History
Uses
NARAS. Tropics of Africa. The fruit grows on a bush from four to five feet high, without leaves and with opposite thorns. It has a coriaceous rind, rough with prickles, is about 15-18 inches around and inside resembles a melon as to seed and pulp. When ripe it has a luscious sub-acid taste[1]. The bushes grow on little knolls of sand. It is described, however, by Anderson[2] as a creeper which produces a kind of prickly gourd about the size of a Swede turnip and of delicious flavor. It constitutes for several months of the year the chief food of the natives, and the seeds are dried and preserved for winter consumption.
