Asteraceae FAMILY

Melanthera scandens

Edibility

2/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

The whole leaves are very scabrous and can cause irritation to the skin if rubbed against it^[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial Climber

Growth—

A fast-growing weed of cultivation, it has become troublesome in S Nigeria and in W Cameroons where it is deemed a pest on oil-palm plantations^[1].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Melanthera+scandens>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

[1]The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. — Burkil. H. M. · Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. · 1985 - 2004 ↩︎Brief descriptions and details of the uses of over 4,000 plants. A superb, if terse, resource, it is also available electronically on the Web - see http://www.aluka.org/
[2]Traditional Vegetables in Benin — Achigan-Dako E. Et al · Darwin Initiative; International Foundation for Science · 2009 ↩︎Issued as a PDF on the Internet, it contains basic information on over 250 species of plants used for food in Benin.