- Family: Cucurbitaceae Juss.
Luffa Mill.
[FZ]
Cucurbitaceae, C. Jeffrey. Flora Zambesiaca 4. 1978
- Morphology General Habit
- Annual prostrate or scandent herbs.
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves simple, petiolate.
- Morphology General Tendrils
- Tendrils proximally 2–6-fid.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Receptacle
- Receptacle-tube broadly campanulate; lobes large, enclosing the petals in bud, entire.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Petals 5, free, entire.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens 5, all one-thecous, or 3, 2 two-thecous & 1 one-thecous; filaments inserted on the receptacle-tube, free; anthers free; connectives broad; thecae much convoluted.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Female flowers solitary; ovary smooth, ribbed, tuberculate or spiny; ovules many, horizontal; stigma 3-lobed. Male flowers racemose. Flowers yellow or whitish, monoecious.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit globose to cylindrical, rostrate, smooth, ribbed or spiny, dry, brownish, fibrous, dehiscent by an apical operculum.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds compressed, oblong-elliptic in outline.
[FSOM]
M. Thulin et al. Flora of Somalia, Vol. 1-4 [updated 2008] https://plants.jstor.org/collection/FLOS
- Morphology General Habit
- Annual climbing or trailing herbs
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves simple
- Morphology General Tendrils
- Tendrils 2–6-fid
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Male flowers racemose Monoecious or dioecious
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Hypanthium
- Hypanthium broadly campanulate
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Calyx
- Sepals 5, large, enclosing the petals in bud
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Corolla
- Petals 5, free, yellow or white
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Androecium Stamens
- Stamens 5, all one-thecous, or 3, 2 two-thecous, 1 one-thecous, inserted on the hypanthium, free; connective broad; thecae convoluted
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Female flowers solitary
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary
- Ovary smooth, ribbed or spiny
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Gynoecium Ovary Ovules
- Ovules numerous, horizontal
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit dry, brownish, fibrous, smooth, ribbed or spiny, dehiscent by an apical lid
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds compressed, black.
- Distribution
- Nine species, palaeotropical and neotropical.
[FTEA]
Cucurbitaceae, C. Jeffrey. Flora of Tropical East Africa. 1967
- Morphology General Habit
- Climbing or trailing herbs
- Morphology Leaves
- Leaves simple; blade palmately lobed
- Morphology General Tendrils
- Tendrils proximally 3–6-fid, less often bifid
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Flowers medium to large yellow, monoecious Male flowers racemose; receptacle-tube shortly campanulate; lobes relatively large, enclosing petals in bud, entire; petals 5, free, entire; stamens 5, all 1-thecous, in 2 pairs with one single, or the paired stamens variously united, when completely so stamens appearing as 3, 2 double 2-thecous, 1 single 1-thecous; filaments inserted on the tube, free; anthers free; connective broad; thecae marginal, much convoluted Female flowers solitary; ovary smooth, ribbed, tuberculate or spiny; ovules many, horizontal; receptacle-tube short; stigmas 3, bilobed
- sex Male
- Male flowers racemose; receptacle-tube shortly campanulate; lobes relatively large, enclosing petals in bud, entire; petals 5, free, entire; stamens 5, all 1-thecous, in 2 pairs with one single, or the paired stamens variously united, when completely so stamens appearing as 3, 2 double 2-thecous, 1 single 1-thecous; filaments inserted on the tube, free; anthers free; connective broad; thecae marginal, much convoluted
- sex Female
- Female flowers solitary; ovary smooth, ribbed, tuberculate or spiny; ovules many, horizontal; receptacle-tube short; stigmas 3, bilobed
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Fruit medium-sized to large, subglobose to elongate-cylindrical, beaked, smooth, ribbed or sparsely to densely spiny with short to rather long spines, brownish, dry and fibrous, dehiscent by an apical operculum
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds
- Seeds medium-sized, distinctly compressed, oblong-elliptic in outline
- Figures
- Fig. 10.
Native to:
Assam, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Costa Rica, East Himalaya, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Galápagos, Guatemala, Guyana, India, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Territory, Pakistan, Panamá, Peru, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, West Himalaya, Western Australia
Introduced into:
Albania, Andaman Is., Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Benin, Bismarck Archipelago, Brazil South, Burkina, Burundi, Cambodia, Caroline Is., Central African Repu, Chagos Archipelago, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Comoros, Congo, Cook Is., Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Fiji, Florida, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Gulf States, Hainan, Haiti, Illinois, Inner Mongolia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jawa, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Laos, Leeward Is., Lesser Sunda Is., Liberia, Louisiana, Malawi, Maldives, Maluku, Manchuria, Marianas, Marquesas, Mauritius, Mexico Central, Mozambique, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Nicobar Is., North Carolina, Oman, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Qinghai, Rwanda, Réunion, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Society Is., Solomon Is., South Carolina, Southwest Caribbean, Tadzhikistan, Tanzania, Texas, Thailand, Tibet, Tonga, Transcaucasus, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuelan Antilles, Vietnam, Virginia, Wallis-Futuna Is., Windward Is., Xinjiang, Yemen, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
Luffa Mill. appears in other Kew resources:
| Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| s.coll. [Cat. no. s.n.] | K001132351 |
First published in Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4: s.p. (1754)
Accepted by
- Govaerts, R., Nic Lughadha, E., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. (2021). The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6 Scientific Data 8: 215.
Literature
Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia
- ColPlantA (2021). "ColPlantA. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.colplanta.org/"
- WCVP (2021). World Checklist of Vascular Plants, version 2.0. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://wcvp.science.kew.org/ Retrieved 28 April 2021
Flora of West Tropical Africa
- —F.T.A. 2: 530.
Flora Zambesiaca
- Gard. Diet, abridg. ed. 4 (1754).
Flora of Somalia
- Flora Somalia, Vol 1, (1993) Author: by C. Jeffrey & M. Thulin [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Gard. Dict., Abridg. ed. 4 [without pagination] (1754)
Flora Zambesiaca
Flora Zambesiaca
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Flora of Somalia
Flora of Somalia
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Flora of Tropical East Africa
Flora of Tropical East Africa
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2021. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0