Luffa

Plant Characteristics

Cultivation

Scientific Names

Luffa >

Read about Luffa in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Luffa (luff is the Arabic name). Cucurbitaceae. Rag Gourd. Dish-Cloth Gourd. Vegetable Sponge. About 8 species of annual tendril-climbing herbs, inhabiting the tropics of the Old and New Worlds, mostly in the former. Lvs. 5-7-lobed: tendrils simple or multifid: fls. monoecious or dioecious, the staminate ones in a long-stalked raceme or cluster, the pistillate solitary and shorter-peduncled; calyx bell-shape or top-shape, strongly 5-lobed; corolla of 5 soft yellow or whitish petals, sometimes ragged-edged; stamens usually 3. borne in the calyx-tube: fr. a long, gourd-like, 3-celled pepo, becoming dry when ripe and the fibrous interior sponge-like. In the South it has been called "California okra." The luffas have come into more or less prominence in American gardens, being an importation from the tropics, and China and Japan. In other countries, the fruit is eaten when young, being cooked like squash or served in soups and stews. The young fruit is sometimes sliced and dried. (See Georgeson. A. G., Sept., 1892, and Bailey, Bull. 67, Cornell Exp. Sta.) In this country, luffas are grown mostly for curiosity and ornament. The fibrous interior of the dried fruit, when bleached and prepared, is used as a sponge for the bath and for scrubbing (whence "vegetable sponge"). The culture is the same as for cucumbers and melons. They are tender plants, running 10 to 15 feet. The luffas are widely dispersed in the tropics as cultivated plants. The genus divides itself into two groups,—those species (L. cylindrica and L. acutangula) with fruits not spiny or tuberculate, and those with spiny fruits. The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

? Luffa
Egyptian luffa with nearly mature fruit
Plant Info
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Cucurbitales Family: Cucurbitaceae Genus: Luffa
Species
* L. acutangula (Angled luffa, Ridged Luffa) L. aegyptiaca (Smooth luffa, Egyptian luffa) L. operculata (Sponge cucumber) and others

A luffa sponge whose coarse texture helps with skin polishing.

Luffa acutangula seeds. Each division of the ruler is 1 mm. Seeds of Luffa aegyptica look very similar.

The Luffa or Loofah/Lufah (from Arabic لوف) are tropical and subtropical annual vines comprising the genus Luffa. The fruit of at least two species, L. acutangula and L. aegyptiaca, is grown to be harvested before maturity and eaten as a vegetable, popular in Asia and Africa. It is also known as Ridged Gourd and is called জিকা zika in Assamese, 丝瓜 si¹gua¹ in Mandarin Chinese, Turai in Hindi, Gisoda in Gujarati, heeray kAyi in Kannada, wetakolu in Sinhala, mướp khía in Vietnamese language, patola in Tagalog, kabatiti in Ilocano, and gambas or oyong in Indonesia. The fruit of L. aegyptiaca may also be allowed to mature and used as a bath or kitchen sponge after being processed to remove everything but the network of xylem. This version is called Lifah in Arabic, ভোল bhol in Assamese, dhundul in Bengali, ghiya tori or nerua in Hindi or "peerkankai" in Tamil or "beera kaya" in Telugu

Luffa species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Hypercompe albicornis.

Luffa acutangula

A Luffa or Loofah sponge is used like a body scrub. Both the coarse textured sponge and the soft textured sponge are called Luffas or Loofahs.

See also

• Gourd
• Okra
• Lee Wickert
• Lufa (american tradition)

External links

• Multilingual taxonomic information at the University of Melbourne

• Luffa aegyptiaca at Floridata