Luffa acutangula Roxb.

Stem rather robust, sulcate-angular, pubescent. Tendrils robust, often 3-fid, puberulent. Petiole 8-12 cm; leaf blade suborbicular, 15-20 × 15-20 cm, membranous, often 5-7-lobed; median lobe broadly triangular, lateral lobes smaller, both surfaces puberulent, margin dentate, apex acute or acuminate; sinus subrounded. Male flowers 17-20 in raceme at apex of peduncle; peduncle 10-15 cm; pedicels 1-4 cm, white puberulent; calyx tube campanulate, 5-8 × ca. 10 mm; segments lanceolate, 4-6 × 2-3 mm, densely white pubescent, 1-veined, apex acuminate, slightly reflexed; corolla yellow, rotate; segments obcordate, 15-25 × 10-20 mm, both surfaces subglabrous; stamens 3, free; filaments 4-5 mm; anthers puberulent. Female flowers solitary; ovary terete, longitudinally 8-10-angled; style short; stigmas expanded, 2-lobed. Fruit cylindric or clavate-oblong, 8-10-angled, 15-40 × 6-10 cm, glabrous. Seeds black, ovoid, 11-12 × 7-8 mm, ca. 1.5 mm thick, margin without wing. Fl. and fr. summer and autumn.

A tropical plant. It grows from sea level to 500 m altitude in the hot humid tropics. It won't tolerate excessive rainfall so does best in drier areas or in the dry season in wetter areas. Day temperatures above 25 °C are suitable. Some varieties require short day length. Adding additional nitrogen fertiliser can stimulate female flower formation in short day varieties. In Nepal it grows between 1000-1600 m altitude. It can grow in arid places. In Yunnan.

The immature fruit are cooked and eaten as a vegetable. The ridges are removed with a vegetable peeler. The fruit are boiled, steamed or stir-fried. They can be added to soups, stews and curries. The fruit skin is made into chutney. The leaves are edible. They can be eaten in salads or cooked as a vegetable. The flower buds are dipped in batter and sauteed. Mature seeds are roasted, salted and eaten as a snack.

Seeds are sown direct at 40 x 80 cm spacing and need stakes to climb. Because seeds can have a hard coating soaking seed in water for 24 hours before planting can assist. 5 kg of seed per hectare are required. The plant benefits from full sunlight. Good soil fertility is beneficial. The soil needs to be well drained and adequate organic matter helps. Pinching out the growing tips when plants are 1.5 to 2 metres long can promote fruit development. Hand pollination once female flowers develop helps fruit set. This is best done in the evening.