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(Last Modified On 7/31/2013)
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(Last Modified On 7/31/2013)
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Genus
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Luffa Miller
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PlaceOfPublication
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Gard. Dict., abr. ed. 4. 1754
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Note
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TYPE: L. aegyptiaca Miller.
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Synonym
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Trevouxia Scop., Introd. 152. 1777. TYPE: not designated. Turia Forsk. ex J.F. Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 2: 303, 403. 1791. TYPE: not designated. Poppya Neck. ex M.J. Roem., Fam. Nat. Syn. Monogr. 2: 59. 1846. TYPE: P. operculata (L.) M. Roem.
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Description
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Monoecious, tendriled vines: stems 5- to 10-sulcate. Leaves petiolate, simple, 5- to 7-lobate, rarely subentire; tendrils simple or 2- to 5-branched. Staminate flowers in racemes, axillary; calyx campanulate or turbinate, 5-lobate; petals 5, free; stamens 3 (in ours), borne on the hypanthium tube, free, the anthers linear, flexuous, variously unilocular or bilocular; pistillodium glanduliform or absent. Pistillate flowers solitary in the axils of the same leaves as the staminate inflores- cences; calyx and corolla similar to those of the staminate flowers; ovary elon- gate, 3-carpellate, the ovules numerous, horizontal, the styles 3, connate, the stigmas 3, bilobate; staminodia 3, rarely 4 or 5. Fruits cylindrical, fusiform, ellip- soidal, or clavate, smooth, tuberculate, echinate, or acutely ribbed, operulate at the apex, the style persistent, the interior filled with a coarse fibrous mass (vas- cular bundle net); seeds oblong, compressed, winged or wingless, the testa smooth or rugose.
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Habit
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vines
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Distribution
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The genus includes 6-10 species mostly native in the tropics and subtropics of the Old World. A single species is native to the New World. Some species are cultivated and widely distributed. One native and one introduced species occurs in Panama.
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Key
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a. Fruit ellipsoidal, 5-10 cm long, tuberculate or shortly eclhinate; petals 1.0-1.5 cm long ...... 2. L. opercuilata aa. Fruit cylindrical or fusiform, ( 10-) 15-30 cm long, smooth; petals 2-3 cm long ...... 1. L. aegyptiaca
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