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Coccinia
Also called Coccinias, Scarlet Gourds
Coccinia is a genus of about 25 species of perennial climbing or creeping herbs from the gourd family, mostly native to sub-Saharan Africa. The commonly grown member is Coccinia grandis (ivy gourd), a vigorous vine grown for its edible fruits and shoots.
The scarlet gourds are a genus (Coccinia from the Greek, kokkinia or kokkinias - "red" or "scarlet") with 25 species. It is distributed in sub-Saharan Africa and with one species, C. grandis also in South Asia and Southeast Asia, and it is also introduced into the New World. Incidentally, C. grandis is also a cultivated crop and it is used for culinary and medical purposes.
All species occur in sub-Saharan Africa, from semi-arid savannas to rain forests, rarely also mountain forests. The species adapted to these different habitats one to several times independently.
The genus Coccinia is best known for C. grandis, commonly known as "ivy gourd". Its fruits can be eaten raw when ripe or cooked when unripe. In the latter case, it is used in curries. Young leaves and shoots are also edible. All used plants are a good source of carotenoids. The tuber of Coccinia abyssinica is cooked and a source of starch for the Oromo people in Ethiopia. Local culinary uses also exist. However, many species and also populations within species can be bitter due to cucurbitacins.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Coccinia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
