Pumpkin Bush
Mar 03, 2011
Family Phyllanthaceae
Botanical Name Sauropus macranthus Hassk
Common name Pumpkin Fruit; Sauropus, Atherton; Atherton Sauropus; Pumpkin Bush

Stem Usually flowers and fruits as a shrub about 1-3 m tall.
Leaves Leaf blades about 6-11 x 3-5 cm, produced on lateral shoots which resemble compound leaves. Leaves tend to be alternate and not spirally arranged on the twigs. Stipules triangular, about 4 mm long, apex acuminate, margins pale (at least when dry).
Flowers Male flowers: Flowers about 2 mm diam. on long slender pedicels about 10-15 mm long. Anthers attached to three extremely short spokes radiating from the centre of the flower. Female flowers: Flowers about 4-5 mm diam. on long slender pedicels about 10-15 mm long. Ovules 2 per locule. Stigmas 6.
Fruit Fruits +/- shaped like miniature Queensland Blue pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) borne on long slender pedicels. Fruits about 10-12 x 15-18 mm, calyx persistent at the base of the fruit. Seed completely enclosed in a white aril. Endosperm scanty. Cotyledons very unequal, the smaller cotyledon +/- embedded in the convex side of the larger cotyledon.
Seedlings Cotyledons without any obvious veins, one cotyledon thick and fleshy, the other thinner and shorter, more closely resembling an ordinary leaf. At the tenth leaf stage: leaf blade ovate, apex acute, base rounded. Twigs winged with the wings starting at the base of each petiole and extending down the stem. Stipules triangular, about 1-2 mm long, margin pale at least when dry.
Distribution and Ecology Occurs in NEQ. Altitudinal range from 700-800 m. Grows as an understory plant in well developed upland rain forest on basalt. Also occurs in Asia and Malesia.