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Sechium edule
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Family:
CUCURBITACEAE
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Citation: Sechium edule ( Jacq. ) Sw., Fl. Ind. OcciD. 2: 1150. 1800; Chakrav., Fasc. Fl. Ind. 11: 100. 1982.
Sicyos edulis Jacq., Enum. Syst. 32. 1760.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Chow Chow, Mysore mathan, Seema kathirikka
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Chayote, Chow Chow, Pipinola
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Description:
Monoecious climber. Leaves palmately lobed, to 20 cm wide, chartaceous, base cordate; tendrils glabrous, 3-5-fid. Staminate: racemes to 30-flowered, fascicled; peduncles to 25 cm. Calyx-tube sub-globose; lobes 5, elongate, 6 mm. Corolla rotate, deeply 5-lobed; lobes ovate-lanceolate. Stamens 3; filaments connate into a column; anthers free, 1-celled, 2-celled; pistillode 0. Pistillate: solitary or paired, generally coaxillary with staminate. Calyx and corolla as in staminate. Staminode 0. Ovary 1-celled, 5-sulcate; ovule 1, pendulous; style slender, 3 mm; stigma 5-lobed, lobes recurved. Fruit obovate, fleshy, 10 x 7 cm, deeply 5-sulcate; seed 1, ovoid.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
September-January
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District(s):
Idukki
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Medicinal:
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Habitat:
Cultivated as vegetable in the High Ranges
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Distribution:
Native of tropical America, cultivated elsewhere
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Yellow
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
Yes
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
Yes
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
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