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Coccinia grandis - (L.)J.Voigt.

Ivy Gourd

Author	(L.)J.Voigt.	Botanical references	200, 266
Family	Cucurbitaceae	Genus	Coccinia
Synonyms	Bryonia grandis - L. Coccinia cordifolia - auct. Coccinia indica - Wight.&Arn.;
Known Hazards	None known
Range	Tropical Asia To Africa.
Habitat	Deciduous bush, savannah, dry evergreen forest and thickets[200]. Moist neglected places, especially on hedges, to elevations of 1400 metres in Nepal[272].
Edibility Rating	2 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	2 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 3m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Sunny Edge; South Wall By; West Wall By;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Fruit; Leaves.

Young leaves and long slender stem tops - cooked and eaten as a potherb or added to soups[46, 61, 105, 177, 183, 272]. Young and tender green fruits - raw in salads or cooked and added to curries etc[2, 46, 61, 105, 177, 183]. Ripe scarlet fruit - raw. Fleshy and sweet[183]. The fruit is up to 5cm long[200].

Medicinal Uses

Hypoglycaemic; Laxative; Miscellany; Ophthalmic; Poultice; VD.

The juice of the roots and leaves is considered to be a useful treatment for diabetes[240, 272]. The juice of the stem is dripped into the eyes to treat cataracts[272]. The leaves are used as a poultice in treating skin eruptions[240]. The plant is laxative[61]. It is used internally in the treatment of gonorrhoea[240]. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the plant have shown hypoglycaemic principles[240].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any soil[1] but prefers a sunny sheltered position in a humus-rich open soil[164]. Keep the plant well watered in the growing season[164]. Occasionally cultivated for its edible fruit in tropical and sub-tropical zones[46, 61], this plant is not hardy in Britain and normally requires greenhouse protection if it is to fruit here[200]. However, it may succeed outdoors as a tender annual in hot summers if given a suitable position and started off early in the greenhouse. Dioecious, male and female plants must be grown if seed and fruits are required.

Propagation

Seed - sow March in a warm greenhouse in pots of fairly rich soil placing 2 - 3 seeds in each pot. The seed usually germinates within 2 - 4 weeks at 20°c[164]. Thin to the best seedling in each pot and grow them on fast, giving occasional liquid feeds. Plant out after the last expected frosts and give the plants some protection such as a cloche until they are growing away well.

Links

Permaculture.info Details of this plant in the Permaculture.info project, a community plant and permaculture database.

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[164] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan. 1990
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation. A good article on Yuccas, one on Sagebrush (Artemesia spp) and another on Chaerophyllum bulbosum.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. 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.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[266] Flora of China 1994
On-line version of the Flora - an excellent resource giving basic info on habitat and some uses.

[272] Manandhar. N. P. Plants and People of Nepal Timber Press. Oregon. 2002 ISBN 0-88192-527-6
Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.

Readers Comments

Coccinia grandis

D.LOGU Mon Nov 7 2005

Dear sir, Thanks for your information. Best regards, D.LOGU

MORINGA PRODUCTS Exporters of moringa and herbal plants

Coccinia grandis

Mon Apr 10 2006

This is an aggressively invasive species that can smother everything in its path, and this should be mentioned under your "Known Hazards" section for this species.

Coccinia grandis (PIER species info) This page highlights species information RE: Coccinia grandis from the Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk project (PIER)

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