Luffa aegyptiaca

Luffa aegyptiaca subsp. var.	Smooth Luffa, Egyptian Luffa
Egyptian luffa fruit	Habit: vine-climber Height: ⇕ to Width: ⇔ to cm Height: ⇕ cm to warning.png"" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. Width: ⇔ warning.png"" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. to warning.png"" cannot be used as a page name in this wiki. Lifespan: ⌛ Origin: ✈ Poisonous: ☠ Bloom: ❀	Exposure: ☼ Water: ◍ Features: ✓ Hidden fields, interally pass variables to right place Minimum Temp: ☃ °Fwarning.png"°F" is not a number. USDA Zones: to Sunset Zones: Flower features: ❀
	Cucurbitaceae > Luffa aegyptiaca var. ,

Luffa aegyptiaca is a species of Luffa. Commonly known as Smooth Luffa or Egyptian Luffa, sometimes under the obsolete name Luffa cylindrica and frequently misspelt "Luffa aegyptica", it is cultivated and grown for its fruit. The fruit resembles a cucumber. Young fruit can be eaten as a vegetable while ripe fruits can be use to make bath sponges. They may also be grown as an ornamental plant. It is native to northern Africa.

Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Luffa cylindrica, Roem. (Momordica cylindrica, Linn. L. aegyptiaca, Mill. L. Petola, Ser. L. Veitchii, Naudin. L. faetida, Hort. [at least in part], not Cav. L. Fabiana, L. japonica, L. mexicana [?] and L. noctiflora alba, Hort.). Naga Itouri of Japanese. Sua-Kwa of Chinese. The commonest dishcloth gourd: sts. slender running, furrowed, roughened: lvs. roundish in outline, mostly 15-lobed, coarsely toothed, very scabrous above and beneath: staminate fls. 2-3 in. across, wilting in the sun; ovary cylindrical or clavate, pubescent, destitute of distinct ridges, ripening into a slender cylindrical curved fr. 1-2 ft. long; seeds black or rarely whitish, narrow- winged. A var. macrocarpa is listed. Probably native to the Old World, but widely distributed in the tropics. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Gallery

If you have a photo of this plant, please upload it! Plus, there may be other photos available for you to add.

• 

  photo 1

• 

  photo 2

• 

  photo 3

References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

• w:Luffa aegyptiaca. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Luffa aegyptiaca QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)