Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 July 2026 | 18(7): 29370–29374
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.10253.18.7.29370-29374
#10253 | Received 25 November 2025 | Final received 03 April 2026|
Finally accepted 22 June 2026
Notes on the
occurrence of southeastern Asian taxon Scopellaria
marginata (Blume) W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes (Cucurbitaceae) in the Nicobar Islands: a new distribution record in
the Indian part of Sundaland
K. Pradheep 1,
K. Joseph John 2, I. Jaisankar 3 & P.K. Singh 4
1,2 ICAR-National Bureau of Plant
Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Regional Station, Thrissur, Kerala 680656, India.
3 ICAR-Central Island Agricultural
Research Institute (CIARI), Sri Vijaya Puram, Andaman & Nicobar Islands
744105, India.
4 Division of Plant Exploration and
Germplasm Collection, ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi 110012, India.
1 k.pradheep@icar.org.in
(corresponding author), 2 josekattukunnel@gmail.com, 3 i.jaisankar@icar.org.in,
4 praveen.singh1-icar@nic.in
Editor: Vivek Pandi, Manipal
Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India. Date
of publication: 26 July 2026 (online & print)
Citation: Pradheep, K., K.J. John, I. Jaisankar
& P.K. Singh (2026). Notes on the occurrence of southeastern
Asian taxon Scopellaria marginata (Blume)
W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes (Cucurbitaceae)
in the Nicobar Islands: a new distribution record in the Indian part of Sundaland. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 18(7):
29370–29374. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.10253.18.7.29370-29374
Copyright: © Pradheep et al. 2026. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use,
reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing
adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: This work was funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi (Project code:
PGR/PGC-BUR-THR 01.01).
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to the authorities of ICAR-NBPGR for their constant encouragement, support and guidance in undertaking this study. We are also grateful to the authorities of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Administration for the forest permission and the Tribal Area Landing Permit that were issued.
Abbreviations: NHCP—National Herbarium of
Cultivated Plants | NBPGR—National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources.
The genus Scopellaria
W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes, belonging to tribe Benincaseae Ser., is an Old-World genus comprising two
species distributed from southern China through Indo-China to west Malesia
(Schaefer & Renner 2011). Until two decades back, it was a part of Zehneria Endl., and it was
de Wilde & Duyfjes (2006a), based on extensive
field work and herbarium studies, who had recognised
four new genera, namely, Indomelothria W.J.de
Wilde & Duyfjes, Neoachmandra
W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes, Scopella
W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes, and Urceodiscus
W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes, all from Old-World,
citing differences in the type of male inflorescence, the place of insertion of
the stamens in corolla lobes, the shape of the anthers, the number of anther
thecae, the presence or absence of disc and staminodes, and the shape of the
stigma-lobes. Immediately after its publication, the name of the genus Scopella was understood as being the illegitimate
later homonym of Scopella Mains (1939);
therefore, a new name, Scopellaria W.J. de
Wilde & Duyfjes, was validly published (de Wilde
& Duyfjes 2006b).
As part of the Sundaland biodiversity hotspot, the flora of the Nicobar
Islands closely resembles that of Malesia, and several plant families found in
the Nicobar Islands are notably absent from the Andaman Islands (which fall
under the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot and are primarily characterised
by Indochinese elements). The richness of the Sundaland
hotspot is witnessed by the presence of over 15,000, 115, and 138 endemic
species of plants, mammals, and birds, respectively (Brooks et al. 2002).
During the survey and field collection of plant genetic resources on Teressa
Island of the Nancowrie group of Islands in
the Nicobar Islands, the authors encountered a population of Zehneria-like herbaceous creeper-climber, characterised by the absence of probracts,
yellow flowers, a long fruiting pedicel, and pitted seeds. After a critical study, and consulting relevant literature and matching
digital images of herbarium specimens of Leiden Herbarium (L) and Kew Herbarium
(K), the taxon is identified as Scopellaria
marginata (Blume) W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes. This genus has not been reported from India to
date (vide Chakravarty 1982; Renner & Pandey 2013).
Scopellaria marginata (Blume) W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes in Blumea 51: 297. 2006; Fl. Thailand 9(4):
493. 2008; Fl. Malesiana 19: 215. 2010; — Bryonia marginata Blume, Bijdr. Fl.
Ned. Ind. 15: 924. 1826; — Melothria
marginata (Blume) Cogn.
in A.DC. & C.DC., Monogr.
Phan. 3: 593. 1881; — Zehneria marginata (Blume) Keraudren
in Aubrév. & J.-F.Leroy, Fl. Cambodge, Laos
& Vietnam 15: 55. 1975, pl. 9: 4; — Scopella
marginata (Blume) W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes, Blumea 51: 35. 2006, f.
9, nom. illeg. — Type: Blume 920 (holo
L), Java.
Melothria affinis King, J. Asiat.
Soc. Bengal, Pt. 2, Nat. Hist. 67: 38. 1898.
Melothria gracilipes Merr.,
Pap. Michigan Acad. Sci. 19: 199. 1934.
Annual, herbaceous, monoecious
climber or creeper, up to 5 m long; stems angular-sulcate, glabrescent,
1.5–2 mm diam.; probracts absent; tendrils simple,
slender, white-hairy throughout. Leaves petioles 3–5 cm long, hairs soft,
short, white; blades unlobed, initially broad
cordiform, later subangulate, 3-angled, green above
and pale green below, 5.5–9.0 x 3.5–6.0 cm, adaxially short-hairy, scabrous
(due to cystoliths), abaxially coarsely short-hairy
on the veins, base rounded or deeply cordate, margins coarsely dentate. Male
inflorescences occasionally coaxillary with earlier
developed female flower, 5–8 flowered in a 3–5 cm long raceme, glabrescent;
bracts absent; peduncle c. 2 cm long; flowers crowded at the apex. Staminate
flowers pedicel 5–6 mm long; receptacle tube campanulate, c. 1.5 mm diam.,
coarsely hairy outside; sepals ovate-triangular, patent, c. 1 mm long; petals
imbricate, yellow, obovate, apex rounded, c. 3 x 2.5 mm, papillose; stamens 3,
inserted in the throat of receptacle, filaments c. 1 mm long, slender, anthers
ellipsoid, exserted, 2-thecous, anther
thecae lateral, straight, c. 1 mm long; disc subglobose.
Pistillate flowers solitary, pedicel 2–2.5 cm long; ovary ellipsoid, with
sparse hairs, subglabrescent; receptacle tubes
shallow; sepals as in male flower; petals obovate, apex rounded or subobtuse, 3–4 cm long, papillose; styles short, stigmas
enlarged, constitute 3 feather-like arms, each 2-lobed, fringed on margin;
staminodes linear, c. 1 mm long; disc rudimentary. Fruits pedicels 2.3–3 cm
long; pepos ellipsoid, glabrous, 1–1.5 x 0.6–0.7 cm, red upon ripening, exocarp
leathery, ripe fruits juicy. Seeds 15–23 per fruit, pale yellow to whitish,
ovate, compressed, 4–4.2 x 2.6–2.7 x c. 1 mm, distinctly square-margined, faces
coarsely scrobiculate. Seedlings cotyledonary
leaves subrotund, short-hairy, emarginate at apex
(Image 1 & 3).
Flowering & Fruiting: July–February
& August–April.
Ecology: In thickets along forest edges
and roadsides, at altitudes of 14 m. Associated species are Macaranga nicobarica N.P.Balakr.
& Chakr., Stephanotis floribunda (L.f.) S.Reuss,
Liede & Meve, Terminalia
citrina (Gaertn.) Roxb., Cissus sp., Stephania
sp., and Sterculia sp.
Distribution: Myanmar (East), China
(South-central), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia (Peninsular
Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak), Indonesia (Java, Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sulawesi),
Philippines (POWO 2025; de Wilde & Duyfjes 2010),
and India (Nicobar Islands).
Specimens collected: K Pradheep
3183 [NHCP26515], 02 February 2019, 8.2720° N, 93.1200° E, elevation at 14 m, 1
km before Minyuk from Haonin,
Teressa Island, Nicobar District, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India (Image
2). The specimen was originally prepared from ICAR-NBPGR Regional Station,
Thrissur, and was deposited in NHCP, NBPGR, New Delhi (Image 3). Seed material
(JPJ/19-271; IC631283) has been conserved with the National Genebank,
ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi.
Population: The authors could observe only
about 10 plants at the site. It remains unclear whether this disjunct
distribution is the result of long-distance dispersal or historical vicariance.
In general, the dispersal of small-fruited wild cucurbits with red skin is
mediated by birds, which might have led to the spread of this species from neighbouring territories of Thailand and Indonesia
(Sumatra). Enquiry with villagers revealed their unawareness about this plant,
indicating its rare nature or recent occurrence. Future molecular studies could
help resolve these alternative explanations and provide insights into the
biogeographic history of the species.
Notes: Reported to be highly variable
with leaf lobing nature, fruit shape and length of
fruiting pedicel; however, the population in Teressa Island has ellipsoid-shaped
fruits and unlobed leaves with cordate outline. Cotyledonary leaf characters of this species are described
for the first time. Jansen et al. (1991) mentioned that its fruits are edible
and are employed as a remedy against coughs. Though reported (de Wilde & Duyfjes 2006a, 2008, 2010), we refrain from further
classifying the variability within S. marginata;
as the two varieties (var. marginata and var. penangense W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes)
have overlapping distribution patterns and no good characters to distinguish
them. Nevertheless, our collection matches more closely with var. penangense due to its unlobed
leaf blades, short ellipsoid fruits and seed length exceeding 4 mm.
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