Luffa
Egyptian luffa with nearly mature fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Cucurbitales Family: Cucurbitaceae Genus: Luffa
Species
L. acutangula (Angled luffa, Ridged Luffa) L. aegyptiaca (Smooth luffa, Egyptian luffa) L. operculata (Sponge cucumber) and others Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta—liverworts Anthocerotophyta—hornworts Bryophyta—mosses †Horneophytopsida Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta—rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta—zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta—clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta—trimerophytes Pteridophyta—ferns and horsetails Ophioglossophyta - adders-tongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta—seed ferns Pinophyta—conifers Cycadophyta—cycads Ginkgophyta—ginkgo... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. ... Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class: this name is formed by replacing the termination -aceae in the name Magnoliaceae by the termination -opsida (Art 16 of the ICBN). ... Families Cucurbitaceae (gourd family) Begoniaceae (begonia family) Datiscaceae Tetramelaceae Corynocarpaceae Coriariaceae Anisophylleaceae The Cucurbitales are an order of flowering plants, included in the rosid group of dicotyledons. ... Genera Abobra Acanthosicyos Actinostemma Alsomitra Ampelosycios Anacaona Apatzingania Apodanthera Bambekea Benincasa Biswarea Bolbostemma Brandegea Bryonia Calycophysum Cayaponia Cephalopentandra Ceratosanthes Chalema Cionosicyos Citrullus Coccinia Cogniauxia Corallocarpus Cremastopus Ctenolepis Cucumella Cucumeropsis Cucumis Cucurbita Cucurbitella Cyclanthera Dactyliandra Dendrosicyos Dicoelospermum Dieterlea Diplocyclos Doyerea Ecballium Echinocystis Echinopepon Edgaria Elateriopsis Eureiandra Fevillea Gerrardanthus Gomphogyne Gurania Guraniopsis...

A luffa sponge whose coarse texture helps with skin polishing.

Luffa acutangula seeds. Each division of the ruler is 1 mm. Seeds of Luffa aegyptica look very similar.

The Luffa or Loofah/Lufah (from Arabic لوف) are tropical and subtropical annual vines comprising the genus Luffa. The fruit of at least two species, Luffa acutangula and Luffa aegyptiaca, is grown to be harvested before maturity and eaten as a vegetable, popular in Asia and Africa. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 1235 KB) Photoed by Jerry Crimson Mann 07:02, 8 August 2005 (UTC). ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 1235 KB) Photoed by Jerry Crimson Mann 07:02, 8 August 2005 (UTC). ... Beyond overall skin structure, refer below to: See-also. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A plate of vegetables Vegetable is a culinary term which generally refers to an edible part of a plant. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...

The Luffa acutangula is commonly known as Ridged Gourd and is called জিকা zika in Assamese, 丝瓜 si¹gua¹ in Mandarin Chinese, Turai in Hindi, Gisoda in Gujarati, Beerakaya in Telugu, heeray kAyi in Kannada, wetakolu in Sinhala, mướp khía in Vietnamese language, patola in Tagalog, kabatiti in Ilocano, and gambas or oyong in Indonesia. Assamese ( ) (IPA: ) is a language spoken in the state of Assam in northeast India. ... This article is on all of the Northern Chinese dialects. ... Hindi ( , Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is the official language of the Union along with English. ... Gujarati (ગુજરાતી GujÇŽrātÄ«; also known as Gujerati, Gujarathi, Guzratee, and Guujaratee[3]) is an Indo-Aryan language descending from Sanskrit, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. ... Telugu (తెలుగు) is a Dravidian language (South-Central Dravidian languages) primarily spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it is the official language. ... Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ ) is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the southern state of Karnataka. ... Sinhalese or Sinhala (සිංහල, ISO 15919: , IPA: [], earlier referred to as Singhalese) is the mother tongue of the Sinhalese, the largest ethnic group of Sri Lanka. ... Vietnamese (tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ[2]), formerly known under the French colonization as Annamese (see Annam), is the national and official language of Vietnam. ... Tagalog (pronunciation: ) is one of the major languages of the Republic of the Philippines. ... Ilocano, also Iloko and Ilokano, refers to the language and culture associated with the Ilocano people, the third largest ethnic group in the Philippines. ...

The fruit of L. aegyptiaca may also be allowed to mature and used as a bath or kitchen sponge after being processed to remove everything but the network of xylem. This version is called Lifah in Arabic, ভোল bhol in Assamese, dhundul in Bengali, ghiya tori or nerua in Hindi or "peerkankai" in Tamil or "beera kaya" in Telugu Polyurethane sponge Close-up A sponge is a tool consisting of porous material used for cleaning impervious surfaces. ... In vascular plants, xylem is one of the two types of transport tissue in plants, phloem being the other one. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... Assamese ( ) (IPA: ) is a language spoken in the state of Assam in northeast India. ... Bengali or Bangla (IPA: ) is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit, Pāli and Sanskrit languages. ... Hindi ( , Devanagari: or , IAST: , IPA: ), an Indo-European language spoken mainly in northern and central India, is the official language of the Union along with English. ... Tamil ( ; IPA ) is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamils in India and Sri Lanka, with smaller communities of speakers in many other countries. ... Telugu (తెలుగు) is a Dravidian language (South-Central Dravidian languages) primarily spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it is the official language. ...

Luffa species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Hypercompe albicornis. A larval insect A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ... The order Lepidoptera is the second most speciose order in the class Insecta and includes the butterflies, moths and skippers. ... Hypercompe is a genus of moths of the family Arctiidae. ...

A Luffa or Loofah sponge is used like a body scrub. Both the coarse textured sponge and the soft textured sponge are called Luffas or Loofahs.

See also

• Gourd
• Okra
• Lee Wickert
• Lufa (American tradition)

This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Binomial name (L.) Moench Okra (American English: , British English ), also known as ladys finger, bhindi and gumbo, is a flowering plant valued for its edible green fruits. ...

External links

• Multilingual taxonomic information at the University of Melbourne
• Luffa aegyptiaca at Floridata