loofah

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
loofah
Sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica), illustration

Sponge gourd ( Luffa cylindrica ), illustration

Systematics
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Rosids
Eurosiden I
Order : Pumpkin-like (Cucurbitales)
Family : Pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae)
Genre : loofah
Scientific name
loofah
Mill.

Luffa is a genus of the pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae) that is native to the tropics. The cultivated sponge gourd belongs to it.

features

The representatives of the genus are prostrate to ascending herbaceous , annual climbing plants . The leaves are simple and petiolate. The tendrils are usually two to six parts.

The species are single sexed ( monoecious ). The flowers are yellow to whitish. The male flowers are in clusters. The flower tube is broadly bell-shaped, the calyx tips are large and entire. The five petals are free and with entire margins. There are five Unithezian stamens (they have a theca ) or there are three stamens, one of which is Unithezian and two of which are Bithezian. The stamens start in the flower tube and are free. The anthers are also free and have a wide connective . The counters are strongly curved.

The female flowers are solitary. The ovary is smooth, ribbed, tubular, or prickly. The numerous ovules are horizontal. The scars are three-lobed.

The fruit is spherical to cylindrical, beaten. The surface is smooth, ribbed or prickly. The fruit is dry, brown, fibrous and opens at the apical end to ripeness. The seeds are flat, their outline oblong-elliptical.

distribution

Some of the species are found in South and Central America, the other in the tropics of the Old World: Africa, Arabia, India, Asia and Australia.

Systematics

Luffa aegyptiaca
Fruit of the winged cucumber Luffa acutangula , a popular vegetable in India (English ridge gourd , Hindi turaī )

The genus is placed within the cucurbit family in the subfamily Cucurbitoideae, where it alone forms the tribe Luffeae.

There are seven or eight types:

  • Winged cucumber ( Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb. ): It is native to India and Pakistan.
  • Sponge gourd ( Luffa aegyptiaca Mill. )
  • Luffa astorii Svenson : It occurs in Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.
  • Luffa echinata Roxb. : It occurs in Africa, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
  • Luffa graveolens Roxb. : It is originally found in India.
  • Luffa operculata (L.) Cogn. (Syn .: Luffa quinquefida (Hook. & Arn.) Seem. ): It occurs in Mexico and Central America.
  • Luffa saccata F. Muell. ex I. Telford : It occurs in northern Australia.
  • Luffa sepium (G. Mey.) C. Jeffrey : It occurs in Panama and South America.

literature

  • C. Jeffrey: Luffa , in: Flora Zambesiaca , Volume 4, 1978. (online)

Web links

Commons : Luffa  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Alexander Kocyan, Li-Bing Zhang, Hanno Schaefer, Susanne S. Renner: A multi-locus chloroplast phylogeny for the Cucurbitaceae and its implications for character evolution and classification . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Volume 44, August 2007, pp. 553-577. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2006.12.022 , full text (PDF; 381 kB)
  2. ↑ List of species according to GRIN
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Luffa in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  4. ↑ Ian RH Telford, Hanno Schaefer, Werner Greuter, Susanne S. Renner: A new Australian species of Luffa (Cucurbitaceae) and typification of two Australian Cucumis names, all based on specimens collected by Ferdinand Mueller in 1856 . In: PhytoKeys . No. 5 , 2011, ISSN  1314-2003 , p. 21-29 , doi : 10.3897 / phytokeys.5.1395 .