Diagnostic description ⁴

Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb., Hort. Beng. 70. 1814.

Fig. 85. D-E

Basionym: Cucumis acutangula L.

Herbaceous vine, monoecious, creeping or climbing by axillary tendrils, attaining 5-10 m in length. Stems green, angular, scabrous; tendrils trifid. Leaves alternate; blades 15-20 cm long, 5-7-palmatilobed, chartaceous, the lobes more or less deep, the apex acute or acuminate, the base cordiform or hastate, the margins sinuate-dentate or denticulate; upper surface scabrous; lower surface pale green, scabrous; petioles 8-10 cm long. Flowers unisexual, actinomorphic. Calyx urceolate, with keeled lobes, 10-12 mm long, triangular; corolla pale yellow, the lobes deep, obtuse. Staminate flowers in racemes; stamens 3, the filaments free, 3-4 m long, villous. Pistillate flowers solitary, with a hypanthium < 1 cm long; staminodia 3, minute, glandular; ovary inferior, tricarpellate, claviform, 10-angled, with numerous horizontal ovules, the style short, the stigmas globose. Fruit claviform, with 10 longitudinal ribs, 15-30 cm long, the pericarp crustose, dehiscent by apical pores; seeds numerous, ovate, 11-12 mm long, blackish, rugose.

Phenology: Collected in fruit in July.

Status: Exotic, cultivated and naturalized(according to Britton, 1925), uncommon.

Distribution ⁵

Distribution: Probably native to the paleotropics, in disturbed areas along roads and moist forest margins in central Puerto Rico. Cultivated throughout the tropics and subtropics.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) rajeshodayanchal, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Naramban.JPG
2. (c) Nate Gray, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4133/4976157472_fb2b454c4d_o.jpg
3. (c) Original uploader was WingkeeLEE at en.wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Luffa_acutangula_seeds.jpg
4. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435297
5. (c) Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28435804

More Info

• iNat taxon page
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• Atlas of Living Australia
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• World Flora Online

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