What Is The Scientific Name Of Sponge Gourd? (ANSWERS)
SCIENTIFIC NAME OF SPONGE GOURD – In this topic, we are going to know about the scientific name of sponge gourd or known locally as patola.
We are going to specifically refer to one of its scientific name since there are two.
This type of sponge gourd that we are learning about is known as angled luffa, Chinese okra, dish cloth gourd, ridged gourd, vegetable gourd, strainer vine, ribbed loofah, silky gourd, ridged gourd, silk gourd, or sinkwa towelsponge.
It is known in the Philippines as patola.
It is a type of plant that is grown for its unripe fruits as a vegetable. When mature, these are used as a natural cleaning sponge.
The fruit slightly resembles a cucumber or zucchini with ridges and ranges from central and eastern Asia to southeastern Asia.
Scientific Name
The binomial nomenclature of sponge gourd is Luffa acutangula.
Luffa is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the cucumber family Cucurbitaceae. The name is derived from the Egyptian Arabic name lūf which means fibres, spongy interior of a plant; or sponge.
The species name acutangula means “with sharp edges”, which refers to the prominent ridges of the fruit.
For the other binomial which is usually associated with sponge gourd, as Google suggested, it’s Luffa aegyptiaca, or known as Egyptian cucumber or Vietnamese luffa.
The species name aegyptiaca was given by European botanists who discovered the plant from its cultivatiion in Egypt. Hence, it most likely means “from Egypt”.
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