Hodgsonia macrocarpa seed
LATIN NAME: Hodgsonia macrocarpa
COMMON NAME: Large-Fruited Hodgson’s Vine
The large-fruited Hodgson’s vine is a handsome, vigorous, climbing, perennial vine of the warm forests, and its fine, large, heart-shaped, deeply lobed leaves and its fine, white or creamy-white, many-petalled, fragrant flowers, followed by the large, round, woody fruits of the many large, flat seeds, have made it a treasured and fine plant of the region. It grows as a vigorous, climbing, perennial vine, reaching up to twenty metres or more over the trees, with the long, twining stems bearing the alternate, large, heart-shaped, deeply lobed leaves and, through the warm months, the fine, white or creamy-white, many-petalled, fragrant flowers, followed by the large, round, woody fruits of the many large, flat, oily seeds. It is a species of the flowering vine in the gourd family, and it is native to the warm forests of the eastern Himalaya and the surrounding regions, while it is treasured for its fine, large fruits and its fine, oily seeds, and it is known as the large-fruited Hodgson’s vine.
In the gourd family it is the great, fragrant-flowered vine of the eastern Himalaya, a climber whose large, lobed leaves and woody fruits mark it out in the warm forest.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The large-fruited Hodgson’s vine appears in the vine papers of the eastern Himalaya, and the botanists have mapped its place in the gourd family and the regional flora. The food scientists have studied the large, flat seeds and their fine, oily kernel with its history of use in the region, and the wildlife ecologists have watched the moths on the fragrant, white flowers and the forest creatures at the woody fruits. It is a vine of the forest-scale, useful kind, and the growers of the warm-garden vines keep it in their catalogues.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
In the warm garden, the large-fruited Hodgson’s vine is the fragrant climber of the pergola. Its white flowers feed the moths, its large, woody fruits feed the forest creatures, and the big, lobed leaves give a dense, leafy cover. The large, flat, oily seeds have served the fine cooking and the oil of the region, and the vine grows well in the rich, moist, well-drained ground of the warm, sheltered spot. Large-leaved, fragrant-flowered and useful.
The large, flat seeds are best sown fresh — press them at a generous depth into pots of rich, moist, free-draining soil, keep the pots in a sheltered, half-shaded spot and never let them dry out, and the first vigorous shoots will appear before long.