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18. Trichosanthes anguina Linn., Sp. Pi. 1008. 1753. (Fig. 176). .
Cucumis anguinus Linn.
CUCURBITACEAE
Engl. Snake Gourd; Sinh. Pathola; Tarn. Padivilangu, Podalangai: Hindi
Chachanda, Chachinga, Purwul; Sans. Ahiphala, Brihatphala, Chichinda, Chichunda, Chinakarkatika,
Dirghaphala, Grihakulaka, Shvetaraji, Sudirgha, Veshmakula.
An annual, tendril climber with long, slender, furrowed, slightly hairy, leafy stems;
tendrils 3-fid; leaves simple, alternate, 10—12.5 cm long, broadly ovate, more or less 3—5
lobed, lobes broad, acute, glabrous or nearly so above, more or less pubescent beneath, deeply
cordate with a deep sinus; petioles 5—6 cm long, striate and pubescent; flowers regular,
white, unisexual monoecious, male flowers in axillary 8—15 flowered racemes, female flowers
solitary and axillary; male flowers: peduncles of racemes 10—15 cm long, slender, striate,
flowers borne towards the apex, pedicels 8—20 mm long, puberulous, bracts absent, calyx-tube
dilated at apex, teeth short, acutely triangular; petals lanceolate-oblong, laciniate at apex;
female flowers: peduncles 3 — 16 mm long, calyx-tube about 3 cm long, petals same as in male
flower, ovary inferior, 4 cm long, hairy, unilocular with 3 parietal placentas, style slender, stigmas
3; fruit about 0.3—0.9 m Jong, green striped with white, changing to bright orange colour when
ripe.
Flowers throughout the year.
Illustrations. Curtis, Bot. Mag. pi. 722; Kirtikar and Basu, Indian Med. Plants, pi. 445.
1933; Ames, Eco. Annuals and Human Cultures, 81. 1939.
Distribution, Widely cultivated in the hotter parts of India, Ceylon, Malaya and China
but never found in a wild state. In Ceylon, it is extensively grown in the mid and low-country.
Ceylon. Peradeniya, Bot. Gard., Herb. Peradeniya, June 1899.
Uses. In lndo-China, the plant is used as a purgative and vermifuge. The fruit is considered
an emetic and anthelmintic in the Philippine Islands.
The fruit is commonly used as a vegetable.
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