Cucurbitaceae FAMILY

Cyclanthera brachystachya

Edibility

3/5

Medicinal

0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual Climber

Growth—

A plant of higher elevations in the tropics, where it is found at elevations of 800 - 3,500 metres^{[1, 2]}. Plants tolerate more cold than many cucurbits^[1]. Requires a warm sunny and sheltered position in a rich well-drained soil. Plants are not very cold hardy in Britain and so are normally grown in a greenhouse. However, if they are started in a greenhouse in the spring and grown on well it is possible to get reasonable yields in most years outdoors in this country. Plants have been seen outdoors in an open sunny position at Kew on several occasions with ripe fruit^[PFAF].

Propagation

Seed - sow mid spring in a rich compost in a warm greenhouse. Put 2 or 3 seeds in a pot and thin the seedlings to the strongest plant. Plant out after the last expected frost and give the plants some protection such as a cloche until they are growing away well. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Cyclanthera+brachystachya>

Pollinators

Insects

References

[1]Lost Crops of the Incas — Popenoe. H. et al · National Academy Press · 1990 · ISBN 0-309-04264-X ↩︎An excellent book. Very readable, with lots of information and good pictures of some lesser known food plants of S. America.
[2]Flora of Guatemala — Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark · 1946 - 1976 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
[3]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎