Sicana odorifera
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Cassabanana ( Sicana odorifera ), illustration |
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| ( Vell. ) Naudin |
Sicana odorifera known as Cassabanana or Melocoton , is a tropical crop that belongs to the cucurbitaceae family , hence its basionym Cucurbita odorifera Vell. , it is one of three species in the genus Sicana .
This type of plant is grown in large parts of Latin America , where it is also known as Curuguá ( Guaraní ), and in the Caribbean and in the southern United States by the Cajun .
description
Sicana odorifera is a fast-growing, perennial, herbaceous plant that grows creeping or trailing. The ribbed stems reach lengths of 15 meters or more. The tendrils are often four-part. The leaf stalks are up to 12 cm long. The rounded to pointed or pointed multiple lobes, heart-shaped or arrow-shaped leaves are up to 20-30 cm wide. The leaves are serrated at the edge. All parts of the plant have very short glandular hairs.
Sican odorifera is monoecious mixed sex monoecious . The solitary, unisexual flowers are five-fold with a double perianth . The female flowers are about 5 centimeters long, the male only 2 centimeters. The five white or yellow petals are cup-shaped fused with free, recessed lobes. The stamens of the male flowers are short and close together, the anthers stand together in a large head. The long ovary of the female flowers is inferior, with a short pencil with a large, three-lobed stigma . The female flowers have 3 staminodes and the male has a short hypanthium .
The curd-shaped, ellipsoidal to cylindrical, many-seeded and smooth, hard-skinned, almost straight fruit ( berry , cranberry, false fruit , pepo) is up to 30–60 cm long; with variable color, between red, various shades of brown and almost black. The sweet, aromatic, orange-yellow, somewhat firm and juicy flesh of the ripe fruit can be eaten raw or canned. The hundreds, brownish, lighter-edged, about 1–1.5 centimeters long seeds are narrow, egg-shaped and flat.
The unripe fruit is used as a vegetable. The fruits have an aromatic smell and are used to perfume laundry and clothing or as a fragrance improver for homes.
literature
- Klaus Kubitzki : The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants. Vol. X: Flowering Plants. Eudicots , Springer, 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-14396-0 , p. 166.
- Alain H. Liogier : Descriptive Flora of Puerto Rico and Adjacent Islands. Vol. V, Universidad de Pierto Rico, 1997, ISBN 0-8477-2338-0 , pp. 207 f.
- Ernest Small: Top 100 Exotic Food Plants. CRC Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1-4398-5688-8 , pp. 143-147.
- Rolf Blancke: Color Atlas Exotic Fruits. Eugen Ulmer Verlag, 2000. ISBN 3-8001-3520-5 .
- Julia F. Morton: Fruits of Warm Climates. Miami, 1987, ISBN 0-9610184-1-0 , online at Purdue.
Web links
- Sicana odorifera at Useful Tropical Plants.