Lagenaria siceraria
Description
Robust climber or trailer to 5 m long, glabrescent;
Leaves:
Fruit solitary, ellipsoid or variously flask-shaped, often with a long ‘neck’, (6-)10-80 cm long, up to 20 cm wide, glabrescent;
Seeds pale brown, subtruncate at both ends, (7-)10-20(-25) mm long, ± 2-horned on the broader end, faces shallowly ornamented and with two submarginal ridges.
Morphology
1 The flowers are open during the night.
2 Lagenaria siceraria, very variable in fruit- and seed-size and shape, was already known in pre-Columbian times in South America, but it possibly originates from Africa. Small-fruited forms, not necessarily wild forms, are known from e.g. the Moluccas or from Africa. Small immature fruits are offered as a vegetable on markets.