Manipur Forest Flora
A Comprehensive Database of Ligneous Plants of Manipur (India)
Designed & Developed by Forest Research Institute, Dehradun
| Family: Cucurbitaceae | Genus: Luffa | Species: Luffa cylindrica (L.) M.Roem. |
Habit |
Leaf |
Flower |
Fruit |
Bark |
|
|
| Synonym | Bryonia cheirophylla Wall., Luffa insularum A.Gray |
Flower Color | Yellow - Orange |
| Common Name | Sponge Gourd | Flower Type | Solitary |
| English / Trade Name | Sponge Gourd, Smooth Loofah, Vegetable Sponge | Flowering Period | April-June |
| Vernacular /Local Name | Shebot | Fruiting Period | July-Sept |
| Altitude | Up to 1500-1800 m | Fruit Type | Follicle |
| Habit | Climber | Fruit Details | Fruits 10-22 X 6-8 cm, cylindric, fibrous within seeds many, C. 10 X 8 mm, ovoid, compressed, black |
| Habitat | Occurs in forest gaps and edges, agricultural lands and other disturbed areas | Bark Type | Smooth |
| Distribution | Native to India and naturalised include Eastern Africa and some Pacific Islands | Bark Details | Herbaceous, tough green angular aucculent stem |
| Distribution in manipur | Eastern | Origin | Native |
| Leaf Type | Simple | ||
| Leaf Arrangement | Alternate (leaves born singly along stem) | ||
| Leaf Shape | Palmate | ||
| Description of Species | Sponge Gourd is a rampant, fast growing annual vine that produces pretty yellow flowers and a popular vegetable as fruit that are edible when immature and used as back scrubbers or sponges when fully mature and can get more than 30 ft long and scrambles over anything in its path | Leaf Details | Leaves 5-7 lobed, 6-12 X 6-11 cm, orbicular or broadly ovate in outline, base cordate, margin shallowly dentate, apex acuminate, upper surface glandular-punctate, lower surface scabrid |
No Specimen Found
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