Trichosanthes kirilowii is a flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae found particularly in Henan, Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, and Shaanxi. It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it shares the name guālóu () with the related T. rosthornii. It is known as "Chinese cucumber" and "Chinese snake gourd" in English.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Compounds documented for Trichosanthes kirilowii across natural-product and food-composition databases — not just the ~150 nutrients on a classic label ("nutritional dark matter").
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Trichosanthes kirilowii has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens7
Marker genes4
GenBank sequences10
eDNA detections9
Countries1
The DNA barcodea real sequence read deposited for this species
Trichosanthes kirilowii isolate SCNC small subunit ribosomal RNA gene, partial sequence; internal transcribed spacer 1, 5.8S ribosomal RNA gene, and internal transcribed spacer 2, complete sequence; and large subunit ribosomal RNA gene, partial sequence
Marker genes sequenced
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★matK★rbcL1★ITS9★ITS2
plant barcodefungal barcode
06Genome at a glanceCCDB · GoaT · TreeOfSex
The complete instruction manualTrichosanthes kirilowii carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
CCDB · ipcn-api-dl — Cheng, Y. c., B. k. Liu, Z. s. Jiang & Y. c. Duan. 1991. Observations of chromosome numbers of several medical plants. J. Hunan Agric. Coll. 11(2): 166–170.
Ploidy records — measured levels and diploid/polyploid inferences · click for sources
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
DNA clock origin6.45 Ma TimeTree
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
DNA clock origin
08Occurrence & distribution
Record type1 485 records
Wild obs. + sensor691
Museum / vouchered789
Other5
Range
Area of Occupancy AOO3 360 km²
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy86% within 1 km
≤100 m 44≤1 km 7≤10 km 2>10 km 6
59 georeferenced · 632 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor691
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy11% within 1 km
≤1 km 3≤10 km 21>10 km 3
27 georeferenced · 762 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence789
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions33 of 65 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Beijing, CN
192
Nanjing, CN
96
Yangling, CN
67
Wuhan, CN
37
Hangzhou, CN
23
Changsha, CN
21
黔东南州民族医药研究所标本室location not on record
19
Lanzhou, CN
18
Seoul, KR
17
KR
16
FJIDClocation not on record
16
Herbarium of the Department of Botany, University of Tokyolocation not on record
15
National Institute of Biological Resourceslocation not on record
14
Xining, CN
14
Nanjing, CN
14
Guangzhou, CN
13
Xian, CN
12
Zhejiang Universitylocation not on record
12
Institute for Agricultural Bacteriology and Fermentation Biologylocation not on record
9
Guiyang, CN
9
Kunming, CN
9
Central China Normal Universitylocation not on record
8
Zhejiang Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record
7
Kyoto Universitylocation not on record
7
Taipei, TW
6
Zhengzhou, CN
6
Awka, NG
6
Guilin, CN
6
Chengdu, CN
6
云南省思茅市民族传统医药研究所location not on record
5
Elocation not on record
5
Shanghai, CN
5
Tianjin Natural History Museumlocation not on record
5
Shanxi Institute of Biologylocation not on record
5
nlocation not on record
4
Shanghai, CN
4
Cambridge, US
4
Chongqing Natural History Museumlocation not on record
3
Institute of Applied Ecology, Academia Sinicalocation not on record
3
Wuhan, CN
3
Strecker Museum, Baylor Universitylocation not on record
3
Cambridge, US
2
Xinxiang, CN
2
Zhuzhou, CN
2
Kew, GB
2
Monastir, TN
2
SCAUlocation not on record
2
ENTClocation not on record
2
SJNAlocation not on record
2
Taipei, TW
2
Minia, EG
2
Guizhou Forestry Schoollocation not on record
2
LDlocation not on record
2
University of Stellenboschlocation not on record
1
San Jose State University, Museum of Birds and Mammalslocation not on record
1
Chengdu, CN
1
Jiangxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicinelocation not on record
1
Port Elizabeth Museum (Bayworld)location not on record
1
WNNUlocation not on record
1
Hebei Normal Universitylocation not on record
1
NSMKlocation not on record
1
Nagasaki University - Fisherieslocation not on record
1
Yunnan Universitylocation not on record
1
DOI/NPS, Colonial National Historical Parklocation not on record
1
Taipei, TW
1
65 institutions · 780 of 789 vouchered records shown · 9 without an institution code
09Environmental DNA9 detections
Where the DNA of Trichosanthes kirilowii was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found9
Studies independent surveys1
Countries1
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 9 detections have coordinates
Open the map1 country0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median7.40 °C 7.40–7.40
Seasonal swing summer↔winter25.4 °C
Max temp (day)9.60 °C
Min temp (night)3.00 °C
Precipitation344 mm/mo
Air humidity64.9 %
Moisture balance263 mm/mo
Vapour deficit428 Pa
Wind speed2.90 m/s
Cloud cover44.6 %
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 2 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation10 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility1 485 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI9 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics7 specimens↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinesequences↗
dukesphytochemcompounds
LOTUSNatural Products (Wikidata)compounds↗
NPASSNat. Product Activity & Species Sourcecompounds↗
GRIN TaxonomyUSDA-ARSdistribution & uses↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
CCDBChromosome Counts DB · Tel Aviv U.genome & karyotype↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗
PloiDBPloidy Databasegenome & karyotype
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗