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CUCURBITACEAE
11. Lagenaria siceraria (Mol.) Standley in Field Mus. Nat. His'. Bot. ser 3, 433. 1930. (Fig. 169).
Lagenaria ieucantha (Duch.) Rusby—Lagenaria vulgaris Ser.— Lagenaria lagenaria Cockrell —
Lagenaria viiiata Ser.—Lagenaria hispida Ser.— Lagenaria idolatrica Ser.— Cucurbita Ieucantha
Duch.—Cucurbita lagenaria Linn.—Cucurbita siceraria Molina.—Cucurbita lagenaria-oblonga
Blanco—Cucurbita lagenaria-villosa Blanco.
Engl. BoHle Gourd; Sinh. Diya-labu; Tarn. Shorakkai; Hindi Alkaddu, Golkaddu
Kaddu, Kadutumbari, Kadutumbi, Kashiphal, Lau, Lauka, Lauki, Mithitumbi, Titalau, Tumri;
Sans. Alabu, Brihatphala, Dantabija, Ikshavaku, Katukalabu, Katutiktaka, Katutumbi,
Katutumbini, Kshayatriyavira, Labuka, Lamba, Mahaphala, Nripatmaja, Phalini, Pindaphala,
Rajputri, Tiktaka, Tiktatumbi, Tumba, Tumbaka, Tumbi.
A moderate-sized, softly tomentose, tendril climber with 5-angled stems; leaves simple,
alternate, petiolate with tendrils and flowers at their axils; lamina 13—20 cm long and as broad,
broadly ovate or orbicular, faintly 5-lobed, acute, deeply cordate at base, dentate, softly "hairy
on both sides, veins prominent below; petioles 8—13 cm long, cylindrical, pubescent with
two glands at the apex; tendrils bifid, main branch longer than the other, pubescent; flowers
large, brownish white, unisexual, regular, solitary, both male and female flowers on the same
plant; male flowers: peduncle 10—13 cm long, pubescent; sepals 4 or 5, bases fused into a
funnel-shaped, subcampanulate tube, 1.7 cm long, segments lanceolate, dentate and pubescent;
petals 4 or 5, broadly obcordate and infolded, 5 cm long, 3.5 cm broad, fused \ way up with
the calyx-tube, pubescent; stamens 3, epipetaious, filaments short and glabrous, anthers connate,
conduplicate; female flowers: peduncle 5—8 cm long, cylindrical, hairy; sepa's 5, small,
lanceolate, pubescent; petals 5, free, obovate, 4.5 cm long, _2.5 cm broad, pubescent
and prominently 3-veined; ovary inferior, 2—3 cm long, obpyriform, pubescent, 3-carpellary
with 3, bifid stigmas; fruit large, dumbbell-shaped, indehiscent; seeds many, white, horizontally
compressed with a marginal groove."
Flowers throughout the year depending on the time of planting.
Illustrations. Kirtikar and Basu, Indian Med. Plants, pi. 446. 1933; Ames, Economic
Annuals and Human Culture, 88. 1939.
Distribution. Indigenous to -
tropical Africa and Asia. It is frequently cultivated in
India, Ceylon and Philippine Islands.
India. N.W. Prov., Banda, Bell 228, March 1901. Ceylon. Central Prov., Bot. Gard.
Jan. 1890.
Composition. The fruit contains niacin, riboflavine and aneurin. It is a good source
of iron, calcium, phosphorus and vitamin B. The seeds contain a fixed oil and saponin.
Uses. The fruit is eaten as a vegetable. The shell of the fruit is used as a gourd
or for making musical instruments. The pulp is useful for coughs and as an antidote to certain
poisons. It is also considered as antibilious, diuretic and refrigerant. In Guiana, the juice
of the plant is used as a cathartic, seeds used for dropsy and as a taenicide. The oil from the
seeds is an emollient and applied on the head for relief from headaches.
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