Malabar gourd
| Cucurbita ficifolia | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Cucurbitales |
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Genus: | Cucurbita |
| Species: | C. ficifolia |
| Binomial name | |
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Cucurbita ficifolia Bouché |
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| Synonyms | |
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Cucurbita ficifolia is a type of squash, grown for its edible seeds, fruit, and greens. It has many common names in English such as the fig-leaf gourd, Malabar gourd, black seed squash, and cidra. Although it is closely related to other squashes in its genus, such as the pumpkin, it shows considerable biochemical difference from them and does not hybridize readily with them.
Like most members of the genus Cucurbita, C. ficifolia is a climbing vine that is an annual in temperate climates and a perennial in tropical zones. Unlike some other Cucurbita species, it does not have swollen storage roots. The plant stem can grow five to fifteen meters and produces tendrils that help it climb adjacent plants and structures. It may root from the leaf axils, unlike most other curcubits. The vine can become semiwoody if left to grow perennially, although most commercial plants are annual. Its leaves resemble fig leaves, hence its most common name in English – fig-leaf gourd – and its Latin species name (C. ficifolia which means fig leaf). The fruit is oblong, resembling a watermelon, with wide black seeds. In stark contrast to other Cucurbita, its fruit is highly uniform in size, shape, and color.
The plant is monoecious with imperfect flowers (meaning its flowers are either male or female but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and are pollinated by insects, especially bees. The color of the flowers is yellow to orange.
The fruit is oblong with a diameter of eight inches or 20 centimeters, weighs eleven to 13 pounds (5 to 6 kilograms), and can produce up to 500 seeds. Its skin can vary from light or dark green to cream. One plant can produce over 50 fruit. The fruit can last without decomposing for several years if kept dry after harvest.
It is native to the Americas, although the exact center of domestication is unclear. Linguistic evidence suggests Mexico, because of the wide use of names based on the Nahuatl name "chilacayohtli" as far south as Argentina. However, archaeological evidence suggests Peru because the earliest remains have been found there. Biosystematics has been unable to confirm either hypothesis.
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Wikipedia