Luffa acutangula

Luffa acutangula
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Luffa
Species:	L. acutangula
Binomial name
Luffa acutangula (L.) Roxb.
Synonyms
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.

Luffa acutangula 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, ridged gourd, silk gourd, and sinkwa towelsponge.

The young fruit of some cultivars are used as cooked vegetables or pickled or eaten raw, and the shoots and flowers are sometimes also used. Like Luffa aegyptica, 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.

...
Wikipedia