Luffa

Luffa aegyptiaca

Luffa (right), illustration from the Japanese agricultural encyclopedia Seikei Zusetsu (1804)

Taxonavigation

Taxonavigation: Cucurbitales
Classification System: APG IV Superregnum: Eukaryota Regnum: Plantae Cladus: Angiosperms Cladus: Eudicots Cladus: Core eudicots Cladus: Rosids Cladus: Eurosids I Ordo: Cucurbitales

Familia: Cucurbitaceae
Tribus: Sicyoeae
Genus: Luffa
Species (8 sensu Filipowicz (et al.), 2014):
L. acutangula – L. aegyptiaca – L. astorii – L. echinata – L. graveolens – L. operculata – L. quinquefida – L. saccata

L. sepium is now a synonym of Luffa operculata

Name

Luffa Mill., 1754.

• Typus: L. aegyptiaca Mill.

Synonyms

• Heterotypic
  • Amordica Neck., Elem. Bot. 1: 241. 1790.
  • Poppya Neck., Elem. Bot. (Necker) 1: 241. 1790, nom. inval., opus utiq. oppr.
  • Trevauxia Steud., Nomencl. Bot. (Steudel)], ed. 2. 2: 698. 1841, sphalm.
  • Trevouxia Scop., Introd. 152. 1777.
  • Turia Forssk., Fl. Aegypt.-Arab. 165. 1775.

Nomen non vestigium

• Luffa fricatoria Sessé & Moc., Fl. Mexic., ed. 2 227. 1894, nom. illeg. non Donde (1878).
• Luffa tenera Royle, Ill. Bot. Himal. Mts. (Royle) 219. 1833-1840.

References

Primary references

• Miller, P. 1754. The Gardeners Dictionary. Abridged. Ed. 4, Vol. 1–3 (unpaged). John & James Rivington, London. DOI: 10.5962/bhl.title.79061 Reference page. : no. 1.

Additional references

• Cogniaux, C.A. & Harms, H. (1924) Cucurbitaceae-Cucurbiteae-Cucumerinae. Das Pflanzenreich. Häft. 88 IV 275. 2: 1–246. Leipzig.
• Filipowicz, N., Schaefer, H. & Renner, S.S. (2014) Revisiting Luffa (Cucurbitaceae) 25 Years After C. Heiser: Species Boundaries and Application of Names Tested with Plastid and Nuclear DNA Sequences, Systematic Botany, 39(1): 205–215. DOI: 10.1600/036364414X678215. Available on line [1]. Accessed 2014 Aug 30.

Links

• Hassler, M. 2019. Luffa. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World (2019). In: Roskov Y., Abucay L., Orrell T., Nicolson D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Bourgoin T., DeWalt R.E., Decock W., De Wever A., Nieukerken E. van, Zarucchi, J., Penev L., eds. 2019. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Dec 30.
• International Plant Names Index. 2019. Luffa. Published online. Accessed Dec 30 2019.
• Govaerts, R. et al. 2019. Luffa in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Dec 30. Reference page. 
• Tropicos.org 2019. Luffa . Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Dec 30.

Vernacular names

bamanankan: Kòlànfu, Kofu
English: Luffa, Loofah, Lufah
español: Luffa, Loofah, Lufah
suomi: Pesusienikurkut, sienikurkut
français: Luffa, Loofah
italiano: Luffa
latviešu: sūkļķirbji
polski: Trukwa, Gąbczak
中文: 丝瓜

For more multimedia, look at Luffa on Wikimedia Commons.