Snake Gourd
Snake Gourd
Scientific name:Cucumis sativus
English name: Snake Gourd.
Local name: ‘Chichinga’
Taxonomic Position According to Cronquist (1988)
Kingdom | :Plantae |
Division | : Magnoliophyta |
Class | : Magnoliopsida |
Sub-class | : Dilleniidae |
Order | : Violales |
Family | :Cucurbitaceae |
Genus | : Cucumis |
Species | : C. sativus |
Botanical Description of Snake Gourd
Habit: An annual, climbing herb.
Root: Tap root system
Stem: Slender, branched, angular, puberulous.
Leaf: Leaves cordate, suborbicular or orbicular-reniform.8-16 x 6-15 cm, membranous, more or less deeply 5- (rarely 3-7) lobed, lobes usually obovate, finely denticulate, petioles 5-10 cm long, stout, striate, villose.
Inflorescence: Plants monoecious.
Male flowers: Peduncles 10-25 cm long, robust, 8-15 flowered, calyx tube sub-cylindrical, slightly dilated at the apex, 2-3 x 4- 5 mm, puberulous, corolla c 8 x 3 mm, 5-lobed, lobes oblong, fimbriate, 3-nerved. stamens 3,inserted in the calyx tube, filaments slender, c 2 mm long, anthers ovoid, pistillode 15-17 mm long.
Female flowers: solitary, calyx and corolla as in the male, ovary narrowly fusiform, more or less villous, style slender, stigmas 3. Fruits very long, up to 1.5 m, cylindric, smooth, twisted with 6-8 white stripes along with the length. Seeds c 12-17 x 8-10 mm and c 3-5 mm thick, oblong, finely rugulose, undulate, apex round or obscurely truncate, base attenuate.
Economic Importance: This plant is largely used as vegetables either boiled or in curries. The fruits are used as a tonic. The roots and seeds are anthelmintic, and applied in biliousness and syphilis.
Table 1. Snake gourd variety developed by BARI, Joydebpur, gazipur, Bangladesh
Sl. No | Name of Variety | Developed by | Growing season | Yield |
1 | BARI Snake gourd-1
| BARI | Kharif | 25-30 ton/ha |