Cucumeropsis mannii

Botanical Description

Egusi is a herbaceous, perennial climbing plant producing stems usually up to 5 metres long, but occasionally to 10 metres. These stems scramble into the surrounding vegetation, supporting themselves by means of tendrils[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description 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/ ]. Egusi used to be a very important seed vegetable in West Africa and parts of Central Africa at a time when there was plenty of forest to practise shifting cultivation. It is commonly collected from wild stands, which are often retained when clearing fields and is also cultivated. Nowadays, although still often cultivated on farms and in gardens throughout its area of distribution, its use is in strong decline being replaced as a seed crop by Citrullus lanatus[ 299 Title Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Publication Author Website http://www.prota.org Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa. , 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description 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/ ]. The seeds are a common article of trade in local markets[ 332 Title The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. Publication Author Burkil. H. M. Publisher Royal Botanic Gardens; Kew. Year 1985 - 2004 ISBN Description 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/ ].