503
Towel gourd
Luffa aegyptiaca
Luffa is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines classified in the cucumber family. In everyday non-technical usage the name, also spelled loofah, usually refers to the fruit of the two species Luffa aegyptiaca and Luffa acutangula. The fruit of these species is cultivated and eaten as a vegetable. The fruit must be harvested at a young stage of development to be edible. The vegetable is popular in China and southeast Asia. When the fruit is fully ripened it is very fibrous. The fully developed fruit is the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge which is used in bathrooms and kitchens as a sponge tool. Luffa are not frost-hardy, and require 150 to 200 warm days to mature.
503570
Luffa
503.jpg
image/jpeg
244634
2012-04-20T09:37:26Z
530
Gourds
Gourds
Type 1
2011-02-09T00:37:45Z
2019-05-14T18:05:26Z
false
specific
3670
true
FOOD00492