Wild Snake Gourd
Trichosanthes cucumerina
Also known as Malabar Patola
About Wild Snake Gourd
Trichosanthes cucumerina is a tropical or subtropical vine. Its variety T. cucumerina var. anguina raised for its strikingly long fruit. In Asia, it is eaten immature as a vegetable much like the summer squash and in Africa, the reddish pulp of mature snake gourd is used as an economical substitute for tomato. Common names for the cultivated variety include snake gourd, serpent gourd, chichinda padwal and Snake Tomato. Trichosanthes cucumerina is found in the wild across much of South and Southeast Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar(Burma) and southern China (Guangxi and Yunnan). It is also regarded as native in northern Australia.
Description adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Trichosanthes cucumerina
- Genus
- Trichosanthes
- Family
- CUCURBITACEAE
- Habit
- Climber
- Habitat
- Margins of semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests, also in the plains
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Tropical Himalayas, Malaysia, Polynesia, Australia, Bangladesh, Myanmar
- Flowering & fruiting
- June-May
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Local Names
- Hindi
- चिचिड़ा
- Nepali
- चिचिण्डो
- Bengali
- চিচিঙ্গা, কইডা
- Tamil
- புடோல், புடலங்காய், புடலை
- Telugu
- పొట్ల కాయ, పొట్ల, పొట్లకాయ
- Kannada
- ಪಡುವಲಕಾಯಿ
- Malayalam
- പടവലങ്ങ, Snake gourd, പടവലം
- Marathi
- पडवळ, ट्रायकोसँथेस अँग्विना
Cucurbitaceae
Cucumber/Gourd family
Wild Snake Gourd belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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