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Luffa acutangula
Also called Chinese Okra, Ridged Gourd, Angled Loofah, Dishcloth Gourd, Ribbed Gourd, Ribbed Loofah, Silky Gourd
A climbing annual vine grown for its young ridged fruits eaten as a vegetable, and for mature fruits that dry into natural loofah sponges. It needs warmth, a long frost-free season and a trellis to climb.
Luffa acutangula is a cucurbitaceous vine 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 is native to South Asia and has been naturalised in other regions. It is also grown as a houseplant in places with colder climates. English common English names include angled luffa, Chinese okra, dish cloth gourd, ridged gourd, sponge gourd, vegetable gourd, strainer vine, ribbed loofah, silky gourd, and silk gourd.
The young fruits of some Luffa cultivars are used as cooked vegetables, pickled or eaten raw, and the shoots and flowers are sometimes also used. Like Luffa aegyptiaca, 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.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Luffa acutangula by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
