TITLE:
Phytogeographical Distribution and Fruit Diversity of Lagenaria siceraria Species in Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Fortune O. Awala, Benjamin C. Ndukwu, Ikechukwu O. Agbagwa
KEYWORDS:
Fruit Diversity, Lagenaria siceraria (Mol) Standl, Topocline, Ecocline and Phytogeographical Distribution
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.10 No.6,
June
19,
2019
ABSTRACT: Phytogeographical distribution
and fruit diversity of Lagenaria
siceraria (Mol.) Standl species in Nigeria were accessed.
Information on the distribution and fruit diversity was sourced from three
herbaria, Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria Herberia, University of Port
Harcourt Herberia and the University of Ibadan Herberia. A field survey across
fifteen states in Nigeria namely Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Cross
River, Taraba, Bayelsa and Enugu, Ebonyi, Ondo, Ogun, Kwara Anambra and Rivers
State. A total of twenty-four fruit shapes were accessed. The diversity of
fruit shapes across the geographical regions of Nigeria shows that the Guinea
savannah has all the twenty-four different landraces represented, while
Tropical rain forest has nineteen, Sudan savannah has seventeen and Freshwater
swamp and the Saltwater swamp has eleven different fruit shapes respectively.
The fruits of Lagenaria siceraria (Mol)
Standl is considered a topocline since it is not affected only by environmental
factors but possess a wide distribution pattern across the geographical regions
of Nigeria.