The Gurania Pages
Page 2
Amanda K. Neill

Gurania and Psiguria are herbaceous vines and woody lianas that grow in moist tropical forests and also disturbed forest edges.  They may be found sprawling over shrubs in sungaps and treefalls, but some species climb high into trees in primary forest, where it can be difficult to observe flowering and fruiting.    Like most cucurbits, these genera climb with tendrils.

Above is Gurania lobata from Ecuador.  This plant was in a tree on a roadside that had been spared by a landslide.  The white arrow in the center of the photo shows two inflorescences.  One staminate inflorescence, one leaf, and one tendril are produced at each node on reproductive parts of the plant.  This plant had unusually large leaves for Gurania, as you can see in the photo on the right, with Wilson Quizhpe (L), Inga Toborg (M), and Amanda Neill (R).  Leaves of Gurania and Psiguria may be simple, lobed, or compound, with a great deal of variation on a single plant.  This is only one of the reasons that it is difficult to identify the species.

Click here to see herbarium type specimens of Gurania held at the New York Botanical Garden.

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Photos by John Janovec.
Last updated 24 May 2001 by Amanda Neill.