• Family : CUCURBITACEAE
  (Gourd Or Melon Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : KHARBOOZA FAMILY (खरबूजा फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : CUCURBITACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Luffa cylindrica (L.) M.Roem.
• Common name : Sponge Gourd, Smooth Loofah, Vegetable sponge
• Vernacular name : Ghia Toroi (Hindi); Nuraipeerku (Tamil); Nethibira (Telugu); Jani, Joni (Oria); Kattupeechil, Kattupeeram, Peechinga, Perumpeeram, Puttilpeeram (Malayalam)
• Habit : Climber
• Habitat : Forest margins and wastelands
• Comments / notes : Cultivated for its edible fruits, also runs wild
• Flower, Fruit : February-December
• World Distribution : Tropical Old World
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : H.O. Saxena & M. Brahmam, 1995- Flora of Orissa Vol. 2; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; H. O. Saxena and M. Brahmam, 1989 - The Flora of Similipahar (Similipal), Orissa; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Gopalakrishna Bhat, 2014 - Flora of South Kanara; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Luffa aegyptiaca. Downloaded on 14 November 2024.

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