Luffa acutangula is a cucurbitaceous vine that is commercially grown for its unripe fruits as a vegetable. Mature fruits are used as natural cleaning sponges. Its fruit slightly resembles a cucumber or zucchini with ridges. It ranges from central and eastern Asia to southeastern Asia. It is also grown as a houseplant in places with colder climates. English common names include angled luffa, Chinese okra, dish cloth gourd, ridged gourd, sponge gourd, vegetable gourd, strainer vine, ribbed loofah, silky gourd, silk gourd,[2][3][4] and sinkwa towelsponge.[5]

Luffa acutangula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Luffa
Species:	L. acutangula
Binomial name
Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb.
Synonyms[1]
Cucumis acutangulus L. Cucumis lineatus Bosc Cucumis megacarpus G.Don Cucumis operculatus Roxb. ex Wight & Arn. Cucurbita acutangula (L.) Blume Luffa amara Roxb. Luffa drastica Mart. Luffa fluminensis Roem. Luffa foetida Cav. Luffa forskalii Schweinf. ex Harms Luffa gosa Ham. Momordica tubiflora Wall.

Uses

The young fruit of some Luffa cultivars are used as cooked vegetables or pickled or eaten raw, and the shoots and flowers are sometimes also used.[6] Like Luffa aegyptiaca, the mature fruits are harvested when dry and processed to remove all but the fruit fibre, which can then be used as a sponge or as fibre for making hats.[6]

Gallery

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  Extrafloral nectar glands[7] in Luffa acutangula and Oecophylla smaragdina ants
• 
  A female flower of Luffa acutangula or Chinese okra.
• 
  A male flower of Luffa acutangula or Chinese okra.

See also

• Luffa aegyptiaca
• Okra

References

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На других языках

[es] Luffa acutangula

[ru] Люффа остроребристая