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18. Trichosanthes anguina Linn., Sp. Pi. 1008. 1753. (Fig. 176). .<br />
Cucumis anguinus Linn.<br />
CUCURBITACEAE<br />
Engl. Snake Gourd; Sinh. Pathola; Tarn. Padivilangu, Podalangai: Hindi<br />
Chachanda, Chachinga, Purwul; Sans. Ahiphala, Brihatphala, Chichinda, Chichunda, Chinakarkatika,<br />
Dirghaphala, Grihakulaka, Shvetaraji, Sudirgha, Veshmakula.<br />
An annual, tendril climber with long, slender, furrowed, slightly hairy, leafy stems;<br />
tendrils 3-fid; leaves simple, alternate, 10—12.5 cm long, broadly ovate, more or less 3—5<br />
lobed, lobes broad, acute, glabrous or nearly so above, more or less pubescent beneath, deeply<br />
cordate with a deep sinus; petioles 5—6 cm long, striate and pubescent; flowers regular,<br />
white, unisexual monoecious, male flowers in axillary 8—15 flowered racemes, female flowers<br />
solitary and axillary; male flowers: peduncles of racemes 10—15 cm long, slender, striate,<br />
flowers borne towards the apex, pedicels 8—20 mm long, puberulous, bracts absent, calyx-tube<br />
dilated at apex, teeth short, acutely triangular; petals lanceolate-oblong, laciniate at apex;<br />
female flowers: peduncles 3 — 16 mm long, calyx-tube about 3 cm long, petals same as in male<br />
flower, ovary inferior, 4 cm long, hairy, unilocular with 3 parietal placentas, style slender, stigmas<br />
3; fruit about 0.3—0.9 m Jong, green striped with white, changing to bright orange colour when<br />
ripe.<br />
Flowers throughout the year.<br />
Illustrations. Curtis, Bot. Mag. pi. 722; Kirtikar and Basu, Indian Med. Plants, pi. 445.<br />
1933; Ames, Eco. Annuals and Human Cultures, 81. 1939.<br />
Distribution, Widely cultivated in the hotter parts of India, Ceylon, Malaya and China<br />
but never found in a wild state. In Ceylon, it is extensively grown in the mid and low-country.<br />
Ceylon. Peradeniya, Bot. Gard., Herb. Peradeniya, June 1899.<br />
Uses. In lndo-China, the plant is used as a purgative and vermifuge. The fruit is considered<br />
an emetic and anthelmintic in the Philippine Islands.<br />
The fruit is commonly used as a vegetable.<br />
159