佛手瓜 fo shou gua

Sicyos edulis Jacquin, Enum. Syst. Pl. 32. 1760.

Stem angular-sulcate. Petiole slender, 5-15 cm, glabrous; leaf blade suborbicular, membranous, abaxially puberulent, adaxially slightly scabrous, base cordate, margin dentate, apex acuminate. Male flowers 10-30 on 8-30 cm peduncle, pedicels 1-6 mm; calyx tube short; segments explanate, 5-7 mm; corolla rotate, 12-17 mm; segments ovate-lanceolate. Female pedicel 1-1.5 cm; calyx and corolla as in male flowers; ovary obovoid, 5-angled; style 2-3 mm; stigma ca. 2 mm wide. Fruit pale green, obovoid, 8-15 × 6-8 cm, 5-sulcate in upper part, slightly hispid. Seed ca. 10 × 7 cm, compressed. Fl. Jul-Sep, fr. Aug-Oct.

Commonly cultivated in S China [native to Mexico; commonly cultivated in warm parts of the world].

The fruit is used as a vegetable.