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Luffa cylindrica var. insularum

Pō‘ue

Smooth Loofah

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaf, fruit, and flowers (male & female)	64KB
Image:	Fruit - 3 stages	64KB
Image:	Leaves and fruit: 'Typical' and 'Pacific' forms	84KB
Image:	Flowers - male and female	67KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Smooth Loofah, Loofah, Dishcloth Gourd, Rag Gourd, Vegetable Sponge; German Schwammgurke; French Loofah

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Pō‘ue (RR MG AT MK AK), Puru (MT); Other Polynesian - Wa Vusovuso (Fiji)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE China

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Polynesian, Naturalised; S.Group only - widespread and common; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Locally endangeredMaterial (Fibre)

KEY FEATURES: An annual thin-stemmed vine with large leaves. STEM 5-side, without hairs. LEAVES alternate, dull green, large (to 25x25cm), mapleleaf-like, 3-5 lobes with obtuse-acute tips; stalk ~12cm, slightly ridged. TENDRILS axillary, 6 clustered on 5cm stalk. FLOWERS unisexual, bright yellow, to 9cmØ; petals 5 wide-obovate, to 4x4cm, tip round; sepals 5 green, tapering ~15x5mm, tip sharp. MALE in cluster on long stalk (to 20cm); stamens 5, ~15mmØ, each knobly. FEMALE solitary, on stalk to 5cm; below sepals a swollen cylinder ~20x7mm(LxØ); style 3-part ~10mmØ, each paired. FRUIT oval, to 10cm (var. insularum, to 50cm in typical form), fibrous interior; seeds released through terminal opening. Flowers May-July.

Enlarged Image of 'Luffa cylindrica var. insularum'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++	+++	+	+	+	++	-	-	-

Northern Group: -
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Luffa cylindrica var. insularum Linnaeus
SYNONYMS: Momordica cylindrica Linnaeus; Momordica luffa; Luffa aegyptiaca; Luffa insularum [Pacific form]

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); MAGNOLIOPSIDA (=Dicotyledones); DILLENIIDAE; Violales; CUCURBITACEAE

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
BIODIVERSITY: Locally endangered. Comment: Generally uncommon.
POSITIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Material (Fibre). Comments: Traditionally the fibres of the mature fruit used as a washing sponge.

GENERAL NOTE: The Loofah normally has fruits to 50cm, but the variety in the Cook Islands is usually only to 10cm. The Pacific form is often separated as var. insularum and it was first collected in Fiji (1840) and Samoa (1839 or 1841)

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
p.696 Royal Hort. Soc. Index of Garden Plants
p.462 Tropica
p.2/682 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova
p.281 I Cheeseman - Flora of Rarotonga
p.103 Wilder - Flora of Rarotonga
p.393d Whistler - Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zupM05a, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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