Trichosanthes cucumerina

Snake gourd
File:Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina compose.jpg
Snake gourd
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Trichosanthes
Species:	T. cucumerina
Binomial name
Trichosanthes cucumerina L.
Synonyms
Anguina cucumerina (L.) Kuntze Cucumis anguinus (L.) L. Involucraria anguina (L.) M.Roem. Trichosanthes ambrozii Domin Trichosanthes anguina L. Trichosanthes brevibracteata Kundu Trichosanthes colubrina J.Jacq. Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina (L.) Haines Trichosanthes pachyrrhachis Kundu Trichosanthes pedatifolia Miq. Trichosanthes petala Buch.-Ham. ex Wall.

Trichosanthes cucumerina is a tropical or subtropical vine, its variety T. cucumerina var. anguina raised for its strikingly long fruit, in Asia eaten immature as a vegetable much like the summer squash, and in Africa, the reddish pulp of its mature fruit is used as an economical substitute of tomato. Common names of the cultivated variety include snake gourd, serpent gourd, chichinda, and padwal (not to be confused with Trichosanthes dioica, the parwal, another gourd edible when immature).

Trichosanthes cucumerina is found in the wild across much of South and Southeast Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), and southern China (Guangxi and Yunnan). It is also regarded as native in northern Australia. and naturalized in Florida, parts of Africa and on various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Formerly, the cultivated form was considered a distinct species, T. anguina, but it is now generally regarded as conspecific with the wild populations, as they freely interbreed:

• Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina (L.) Haines – cultivated variant

• Trichosanthes cucumerina var. cucumerina – wild variant

Description

File:Trichosanthes anguina.jpg

Plant diagram

Trichosanthes cucumerina is a monoecious annual vine climbing by means of tendrils. Leaves are palmately lobed, up to 25 cm long. Flowers are unisexual, white, opening at night, with long branching hairs on the margins of the petals. These hairs are curled up in the daytime when the flower is closed, but unfurl at night to form a delicate lacy display (see photos in gallery below). Fruits can be up to 200 cm long, deep red at maturity, hanging below the vine.

The related Japanese snake gourd (Trichosanthes pilosa, sometimes called T. ovigera or T. cucumeroides), very similar in vegetative morphology, but the fruit of T. pilosa is round to egg-shaped, only about 7 cm long.

Uses

The common name "snake gourd" refers to the narrow, twisted, elongated fruit. The soft-skinned immature fruit can reach up to 150 cm (59 in) in length. Its soft, bland, somewhat mucilaginous flesh is similar to that of the luffa and the calabash. It is popular in the cuisines of South Asia and Southeast Asia and is now grown in some home gardens in Africa. With some cultivars, the immature fruit has an unpleasant odor and a slightly bitter taste, both of which disappear in cooking. The fruit becomes too bitter to eat as it reaches maturity, but it does contain a reddish pulp that is used in Africa as a substitute for tomatoes.

The shoots, tendrils, and leaves are also eaten as greens.

Gallery

• Trichosanthes cucumerina flower.jpg

  The lace-like flower of T. cucumerina opens only after dark. Here, it is shown almost completely unfurled.

• Trichosanthes cucumerina flower 1.jpg

  In the process of unfurling lace-like tendrils.

• Trichosanthes Cucumerina aka Snake Gourd.jpeg

  An edible immature snake gourd.

• ヘビウリの実.jpg

  It twists and becomes orange-red while elongated and ripened.

• Thichosanthes cucumerina, the snake gourds, variable fruit shapes and colors as seen in cultivation.jpg

  Different maturity stages and shapes as seen in cultivation.

• The flower of a type of bitter guard in hand.JPG

  Flower and flower buds.

• Snake gourd semilooper anadevidia peponis larvae.JPG

  Snake gourd semilooper anadevidia peponis larvae a major pest of T.cucumerina

See also

• Trichosanthes kirilowii, Chinese snake gourd

• Trichosanthes ovigera, Japanese snake gourd

• Lagenaria siceraria, some of its immature edible cultivars can be found as "snake gourds", not the preferred name.

• Trichosanthes dioica, Pointed gourd or Parwal, also edible when immature.

External links

• Trichosanthes cucumerina Linn. improves glucose tolerance and tissue glycogen in non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus induced rats

• The Plant List, Trichosanthes cucumerina
• Kew Gardens. Snake gourd Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina. http://www.kew.org/support-kew/adopt-a-seed/trichosanthes-cucumerina-var-anguina.htm
• Robinson RW and DS Decker-Walters. 1997. Appendix: Common Cucurbit Names and their Scientific Equivalents. in: Cucurbits. CAB International, USA.
• Flowers of India, snake gourd, Trichosanthes cucumerina
• Flora of China v 19 p 38, Trichosanthes cucumerina
• Florabase, the Western Australia Flora, Trichosanthes cucumerina
• Coopper, Wendy E., & Hugo J. DeBoer. 2011. A taxonomic revision of Trichosanthes L. (Cucurbitaceae) in Australia, including one new species from Northern Territory. Austrobaileya 8:364-386.
• United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Plants Profile, Trichosanthes cucumerina, snakegourd
• Prota 2, Vegetables/Légumes, Trichosanthes cucumerina L.
• Flora of China v 19 p 45, Trichosanthes cucumeroides
• Kew Gardens Millennium Seed Bank, the weird and wonderful snake gourd
• DS Decker-Walters (ed., 1996-2010) Vegetable Cultivar Descriptions for North America. Gourd - Lagenaria, Lists 1-26 Combined. In: Cucurbit Breeding. Horticultural Science.