Cucurbitaceae
Sponge gourd
Luffa aegyptiaca
- Family
- Cucurbitaceae
- Genus
- Luffa
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Common names
By language (47)
- Arabic
- لوف
- Bambara
- Kolanfu
- Bangla
- ধুন্দল, ধুঁদুল
- Bhojpuri
- नेनुआ
- bik
- Patola
- bjn
- Kalimbung
- Burmese
- သပွတ်ပင်
- Cantonese
- 水瓜
- Catalan
- Carabassera d'esponja
- cdo
- Chó̤
- Chinese
- 丝瓜, 絲瓜, 丝瓜叶, 丝瓜子, 丝瓜子胃, 丝瓜根, 丝瓜皮, 丝瓜络
- Czech
- Lufa válcovitá
- dag
- Gbandɔrigu
- Dutch
- Sponskomkommer, Nenwa, Ninwa, Zeefkomkommer
- English
- Sponge gourd, Cucurbita luffa
- Esperanto
- Spongokukurbo
- Estonian
- Ruljas käsnkõrvits
- Filipino
- Patola
- Finnish
- Pesusienikurkku
- French
- Courge éponge
- German
- Schwammkürbis, Gurkenschwamm, Loofah, Luffa-Gurke, Luffa-Gurken-Schwamm, Luffaschwamm, Schwamm-Gurke, Schwammgurke
- hak
- Chhoi-koâ
- Hindi
- घेवड़ा
- hsb
- Lufa
- Indonesian
- Blustru, Belustru, Bestru
- Japanese
- ヘチマ, イトウリ, トウリ, 天糸瓜, 糸瓜, いとうり, とうり, へちま
- Javanese
- Bestru
- kge
- Hurung Jawa
- Korean
- 수세미오이
- mad
- Ghâluddru
- Malay
- Petola bulat
- Marathi
- घोसाळे, गिलके, घोसाळी, घोसावळे, चोपडे दोडके
- mnc
- ᠮᡝᡳᡥᡝᡨᡠ ᡥᡝᠩᡴᡝ
- Persian
- لیف
- Polish
- Trukwa egipska
- Russian
- Люффа египетская
- sat
- ᱡᱷᱤᱸᱜᱟ.
- Serbian
- Луфа
- shn
- ၶိူဝ်းမၢၵ်ႇမူပ်ႇ, မၢၵ်ႇမူပ်ႇ, မၢၵ်ႇယုမ်ႁႆ, မၢၵ်ႇမူပ်ႇလူင်
- Sundanese
- Bulustru
- Tamil
- பீர்க்கு, பீரம், பீர்கங்காய்
- tay
- Tmi
- Tongan
- Fanguʻakumā
- Urdu
- گھیا توری
- Vietnamese
- Mướp hương
- wuu
- 丝瓜
- za
- Swhgvah
Synonyms
- Bryonia cheirophylla Wall.
- Luffa aegyptiaca var. peramara F.M.Bailey
- Luffa cylindrica var. insularum (A.Gray) Cogn.
- Luffa fricatoria Sessé & Moc.
- Luffa insularum A.Gray
- Luffa leucosperma M.Roem.
- Luffa pentandra Roxb.
- Luffa petola Ser.
- Luffa subangulata Miq.
- Luffa sylvestris Miq.
- Melothria touchanensis H.Lév.
- Momordica carinata Vell.
- Momordica luffa L.
- Momordica reticulata Salisb.
- Poppya fabiana K.Koch
- Turia cordata J.F.Gmel.
- Turia cylindrica J.F.Gmel.
Flowers
- In flower
- April to February (from 946 flowering iNaturalist observations worldwide)
Characteristics
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb, Vine
- Lifespan
- Annual
- In the US and Canada
- Lower 48 states: introduced, Pacific Basin: introduced, Puerto Rico: introduced, U.S. Virgin Islands: introduced
Photos
FlowerPhoto: Andre Hosper, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Francisco Farriols Sarabia, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: Carlos Martínez, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FlowerPhoto: renjus box, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FruitPhoto: Emily Abrego, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
FruitPhoto: Breno Figueiredo, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: CostaPPPR, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Aluong, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Camille Boucher, CC0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: JOSE LUGO ACARIGUA, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons 
Photo: Nishant Kaushik, CC BY 4.0, from iNaturalist 
Photo: Zoltán Stekkelpak, CC0, from iNaturalist
More in Luffa
Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.