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Trichosanthes cucumerina
Cucurbitaceae FAMILY

Trichosanthes cucumerina

Trichosanthes cucumerina

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitAnnual Climber
Growth—

Wild snake gourd is a plant of the moist tropics, where it is found at elevations from sea level to 1,500 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 35°c, but can tolerate 14 - 38°c[1]. The plant does not tolerate frost. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 2,000 - 2,500mm, but tolerates 700 - 4,200mm[1]. Prefers a sunny position, tolerating light shade[1]. Requires a rich well-drained soil and plenty of moisture in the growing season[2]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7, tolerating 6 - 8[1]. Plants are intolerant of drought[3].

Propagation

Seed - Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Trichosanthes+cucumerina>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
  2. [2]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  3. [3]Vegetables in the Tropics — Tindall. H. D. · MacMillan, Oxford. · 1983 · ISBN 0-333-24268-8 ↩︎An excellent, in-depth look at the main vegetable crops that can be grown in the Tropics, plus many less well-known plants.
  4. [4]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
  5. [5]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  6. [6]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region