A new taxonomic variety of Luffa aegyptiaca Mill. (Cucurbitaceae): a wild sponge gourd from Odisha, India

2025  47  17 adansonia Adansonia est une revue en flux continu publiée par les Publications scientifiques du Muséum, Paris Adansonia is a fast track journal published by the Museum Science Press, Paris Les Publications scientifiques du Muséum publient aussi / The Museum Science Press also publish: Geodiversitas, Zoosystema, Anthropozoologica, European Journal of Taxonomy, Naturae, Cryptogamie sous-sections Algologie, Bryologie, Mycologie, Comptes Rendus Palevol Diffusion – Publications scientifiques Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle CP 41 – 57 rue Cuvier F-75231 Paris cedex 05 (France) Tél. : 33 (0)1 40 79 48 05 / Fax : 33 (0)1 40 79 38 40 [email protected] / http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr © Publications scientifiques du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, 2025 ISSN (imprimé / print) : 1280-8571/ ISSN (électronique / electronic) : 1639-4798 Directeur De la publication / Publication director: Gilles Bloch Président du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle réDacteur en chef / editor-in-chief : Thierry Deroin réDacteurs / editors : Porter P. Lowry II ; Zachary S. Rogers ; Mathieu Gardère assistant De réDaction / assistant editor : Emmanuel Côtez ([email protected]) Mise en page / Page layout : Emmanuel Côtez coMité scientifique / scientific board : F. Blasco (CNRS, Toulouse) M. W. Callmander (Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de Genève) J. A. Doyle (University of California, Davis) P. K. Endress (Institute of Systematic Botany, Zürich) P. Feldmann (Cirad, Montpellier) L. Gautier (Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de Genève) F. Ghahremaninejad (Kharazmi University, Téhéran) K. Iwatsuki (Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo) A. A. Khapugin (Tyumen State University, Russia) J.-Y. Lesouef (Conservatoire botanique de Brest) P. Morat (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) J. Munzinger (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Montpellier) S. E. Rakotoarisoa (Millenium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Madagascar Conservation Centre, Antananarivo) P. H. Raven (Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis) G. Tohmé (Conseil national de la Recherche scientifique Liban, Beyrouth) J. G. West (Australian National Herbarium, Canberra) J. R. Wood (Oxford) couverture / cover : Réalisée à partir des Figures de l’article/Made from the Figures of the article. Adansonia est indexé dans / Adansonia is indexed in: – Science Citation Index Expanded (SciSearch®) – ISI Alerting Services® – Current Contents® / Agriculture, Biology, and Environmental Sciences® – Scopus® Adansonia est distribué en version électronique par / Adansonia is distributed electronically by: – BioOne® (http://www.bioone.org) 311 ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2025 • 47 (17) © Publications scientifiques du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. www.adansonia.com MOTS CLÉS Cucurbitaceae, L. acutangula, Inde, Odisha, variété nouvelle. KEY WORDS Cucurbitaceae, L. acutangula, India, Odisha, new variety. Misra R. C. & Karmakar P. 2025. — A new taxonomic variety of Luffa aegyptiaca Mill. (Cucurbitaceae): a wild sponge gourd from Odisha, India. Adansonia, sér. 3, 47 (17): 311-318. https://doi.org/10.5252/adansonia2025v47a17. http://adansonia.com/47/17 ABSTRACT Luffa aegyptiaca var. alba R.C.Misra, var. nov., a new taxonomic variety of wild sponge gourd, explored from Malkangiri and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha, India, is described based on morphology. The new variety shares morphological similarities with L.aegyptiaca Mill. var. aegyptiaca and L. acutangula Roxb. var. amara. However, it differs from the closely allied typical variety L.aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca Mill. mainly by its puberulous and scabrous stem, smaller leaves and petiole, smaller male raceme, male and female flowers and pedicel, smaller bract, calyx tube and acuminate calyx lobe, smaller fruits and white colour fewer seeds with wingless margin. It deviates from L. acutangula var. amara in possessing its orbicular-reniform leaves, puberulous petiole, deep yellow flowers, 5 stamens, smooth cylindrical ovary, ecostate, oblong-cylindric fruits and smooth white seeds. Detailed description, photographs and comparison of the diagnostic characters among three varieties are provided for easy identification of the taxon. RÉSUMÉ Une nouvelle variété taxonomique de Luffa aegyptiaca Mill., courge éponge sauvage d’Odisha, en Inde. Luffa aegyptiaca Mill. var. alba R.C.Misra, var. nov., une nouvelle variété taxonomique de courgeéponge sauvage, découverte dans les districts de Malkangiri et Mayurbhanj d’Odisha, en Inde, est décrite sur la base de sa morphologie. Elle partage ainsi des similitudes avec L.aegyptiaca Mill. var. aegyptiaca et L.acutangula Roxb. var. amara. Cependant, elle diffère de la variété typique, étroitement apparentée, L.aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca Mill., principalement par sa tige pubérulente et scabre, ses feuilles et son pétiole plus petits, son racème mâle plus petit, ses fleurs mâles et femelles et son pédicelle, sa bractée plus petite, son tube du calice à lobes acuminés, ses fruits plus petits et leur couleur blanche, ses graines moins nombreuses et sa marge sans ailes. Elle s’écarte de L.acutangula var. amara, dont elle se distingue par ses feuilles orbiculaires-réniformes, son pétiole pubérulent, ses fleurs jaune foncé, ses cinq étamines, son ovaire cylindrique lisse, non côtelé, ses fruits oblongs-cylindriques et ses graines blanches et lisses. Une description détaillée, des photographies et une comparaison des caractères diagnostiques des trois variétés sont fournies pour faciliter l’identification du taxon. Ramesh Chandra MISRA ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, Exploration Base Centre, NRRI Campus, Cuttack – 753006, Odisha (India) [email protected] Pradip KARMAKAR ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Jakhini, Post Box 1, Varanasi 221305 (India) Submitted on 18 November 2024 | accepted on 20 March 2025 | published on 27 October 2025 A new taxonomic variety of Luffa aegyptiaca Mill. (Cucurbitaceae): a wild sponge gourd from Odisha, India 312 ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2025 • 47 (17) Misra R. C.& Karmakar P. INTRODUCTION The genus Luffa Mill., a member of the tribe Luffeae, subfamily Cucurbitoideae, family Cucurbitaceae Juss., is of Asian origin including Indian subcontinent and the native range extends from Mexico to tropical America, west tropical Africa to Somalia and Australia (Heiser& Schilling 1988; Jeffrey 2005; POWO 2024). Being an old world genus, it has a long history of cultivation in tropical Asia and Africa and the primary centre of diversity is India (Sirohi etal. 2005). The exact number of species in the genus is still confusing and varies from four to 10 (Heiser etal. 1988; Marr etal. 2005; The Plant List 2013; Filipowicz etal. 2014; Kumari etal. 2019; POWO 2024). There are as a whole 78 plant name records under Luffa comprising of synonyms, unresolved and others including nine accepted species viz. L.acutangula (L.) Roxb., L.aegyptiaca Mill., L.astorii Svenson, L.echinata Roxb., L.graveolens Roxb., L.operculata (L.) Cogn., L.quinquefida (Hook.& Arn.) Seem, L .saccata F.Muell. ex I.Telford and L.sepium (G. Mey) C. Jeffrey (POWO 2024). Chakravarty (1982) in his revision of the genus, retained seven species native to India incorporating three more species L.umbellata (Klein) Roem. (Gamble 1919), L.hermaphrodita Singh& Bhandari (1963) and L.tuberosa Roxb., which needs to be debated. Out of these seven species, L.tuberosa was included into the genus Momordica as Momordica tuberosa (Roxb.) Cogn. (Ali etal. 2010; Pandey& Prakash 2013). However, only four undisputedly established species of Luffa are recognised in India such as L.acutangula, L.aegyptiaca, L.echinata and L.graveolens (Renner& Pandey 2013). Luffa aegyptiaca Mill., commonly known as sponge gourd or Egyptian cucumber, is indigenous to tropical South and South-East Asian lowlands, but it has been under cultivation in Egypt since late Medieval times. The native range of this species is Indian subcontinent (Kalloo 1993; POWO 2024). In its wild state, it is found growing in dry tropical open woodlands, thickets, grasslands, wastelands, forest blanks and along road sides at low elevations. In the state of Odisha, India, it occurs only in wild form on dryer areas with smooth and bitter fruits. A considerable discussion on whether the correct name for this species as L.cylindrica (L.) M. Roem. or L.aegyptiaca Mill. was made, and Jeffrey (1980) suggested the earlier, while the latter was first introduced by Veslingius (1638) as Egyptian cucumber and further sustained by Clarke (1879), Cooke (1903), Heiser& Schilling (1988), Nicolson etal. (1988) and POWO (2024). We supported the latter view and preferred to keep this name as L.aegyptiaca Mill. MATERIAL AND METHODS Eight specific exploration missions were conducted by the senior author in diversity-rich areas of India during 2018-25 and 92 germplasm accessions of Luffa aegyptiaca were collected from natural wild habitats. The passport data attributing the collection/accession number, wild biological status, source, frequency, habitat and site of collection for all germplasm accessions was documented. While during survey and exploration in parts of Odisha in December 2018 and 2019, the authors noticed the occurrence of two interesting wild populations of sponge gourd in Malkangiri and Mayurbhanj districts, which exhibit a strikingly distinct form of sponge gourd different from the others. The location maps indicating two type collection sites of the new variety were generated using Survey of India topographical maps in 1:50 000 scale through Arc-GIS tools (Fig. 1). The plant specimens were collected from live plants those are neither landraces/cultivars nor escaped from the gardens. These were located in natural wild habitat in open scrubland trailed in association with other shrubby/herbaceous elements like Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M.King& H.Rob., Urena sinuata L., Spilanthes calva DC., Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum (Schott) F.T.Hubb.& Rehder, Mikania micrantha Kunth, Ziziphus oenoplia (L.) Mill., etc. in partly disturbed vegetation as evidenced from the images (Fig. 2A-C). The seed germplasm was collected and conserved in the National Gene Bank, ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi bearing accession numbers IC-636424 and 636431 for long term storage. On through morphological analysis it was revealed that there were noteworthy differences between the typical variety L.aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca, L.acutangula var. amara and the individuals collected from the above-mentioned two locations. Further, the seeds were multiplied and live plants were characterized in the Field Gene Bank of the centre for four years during 2019-23 and the morphological differences were recorded and found to be persistent. Hence, the individuals collected from these localities can be referred as taxonomic variety. The diagnostic characters of new taxon were compared with all entities of congeneric taxa in Luffa using protologues and herbarium specimens described from India and other countries housed at CAL, Kolkata, India along with authentic digital images available online in Kew Herbarium, London. However, none of them matched with this specimen and it is quite different from all known taxa. The herbarium specimens of the new taxon were deposited in the centre along with one set (holotype) at National Herbarium of Crop Plants (NHCP), ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi and another set (isotype) at Central National Herbarium (CAL), Howrah, India. On critical examination of morphological features of the live plants along with herbarium specimens and perusal of relevant literature (Drury 1864; Clarke 1879; Cooke 1903; Prain 1903; WOI 1962; Chakravarty 1982; Shetty& Singh 1987; Heiser& Schilling 1988; Verma etal. 1993; Renner& Pandey 2013; Khan etal. 2017; Suresh etal. 2019), it was observed that it is quite different from the typical taxon L.aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca and also from L.acutangula var. amara in many aspects. The new variety shares morphological similarities with L.aegyptiaca Mill. var. aegyptiaca and L.acutangula Roxb. var. amara in some attributes. However, it differs from the closely allied typical variety L.aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca Mill. mainly by its puberulous and scabrous stem, smaller leaves and petiole, smaller male raceme, male and female flowers and pedicel, smaller bract and calyx tube and acuminate calyx lobe, smaller fruits, seeds white, fewer with wingless margin. It also deviates from L. acutangula var. 313 A new sponge gourd from Odisha, India ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2025 • 47 (17) amara in possessing its orbicular-reniform leaves, puberulous petiole, deep yellow flowers, 5 stamens, smooth cylindrical ovary, ecostate, oblong-cylindric fruits and white smooth seeds. Therefore, this enabled us to conclude that these two interesting populations are a new entity hitherto undescribed with diagnostic characters and warranting a varietal status. Thus, it is described here as a new variety under the name L.aegyptiaca var. alba R.C.Misra, var. nov. The comparison of diagnostic characters among the three affined taxa is outlined in Table 1 for ease of identification. Hence, the present collection forms new taxonomic variety record from India. However, the sponge gourd crop having white seeds was indicated from India (Prakash etal. 2014), Sri Lanka (Kumari etal. 2019) and Turkey (Mavi etal. 2018) for analyzing biochemiAINDIA INDIA ODISHA ODISHA Mayurbhanj district Type collection site Reference: Survey of India Topo sheet-F45N9 3 km buffer around the collection site Type collection site Reference: Survey of India Topo sheet-E44J15 3 km buffer around the collection site Malkangiri district B N N fig. 1. — Location map of type collection sites of L. aegyptiaca var. alba R.C.Misra, var. nov.: A, Malkangiri district, Odisha; B, Mayurbhanj district, Odisha. Generated using Survey of India topographical maps and Arc-GIS tools. 314 ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2025 • 47 (17) Misra R. C.& Karmakar P. cal parameters. White seeds of solely cultivated/ high yield varieties of sponge gourd are also available from various seed traders for large scale cultivation. Nevertheless, these plants are neither naturally occurring nor of any explicit collection locality from wild sources and lack details of information on specific diagnostic characters of any reported taxon. TAXONOMIC TREATMENT Family CuCurbitaCeae Juss. Genus Luffa Mill. Luffa aegyptiaca Mill. var. alba R.C.Misra, var. nov. (Fig. 2A-J; 3) Diagnosis. — Luffa aegyptiaca var. alba R.C.Misra var.nov. closely resembles to the typical variety Luffa aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca, but differs from it in having puberulent and scabrous stem vs glabrous and smooth stem; leaves smaller, 7-15× 6-14cm vs 15-25 (30)× 15-25cm, puberulent and scabrous vs glabrous and smooth; smaller petiole 1-5cm vs 7-12cm; smaller male raceme 12-25cm vs 25-40cm; smaller bracts 2-3mm vs 4-7.5mm, smaller calyx tube 4-7mm vs 7.5-10mm and lobes acute, 10-15× 3-7mm vs acuminate, 20-30×1015mm; smaller male flower 5-7.5cm vs 8-10cm, pedicel <1cm vs 1-2cm and female flower 7-9cm vs 10-13cm across; smaller fruits 7-20× 5-8cm vs 15-45× 6-10cm; seeds white, fewer, margin wingless vs black or dark grey, many and distinctly winged (Fig. 2K, L) type material. — India• Odisha, Malkangiri district, Malkangiri block, nearby village MV-43; 18°19.268’N, 81°52.671’E; elevation 180m; 09.XII.2018; R.C.Misra HS no. 1550-1552; holotype: NHCP!; isotype: CAL!; seed germplasm acc. no. IC-636424 (collection no.RCM/PK/BR/42); biological status: wild; frequency: rare; local names: “Pulu”, “Bana potala”, “Bana jahni” (Odia). Habitat anD eCology. — Population of two plants was growing wild in partly disturbed open scrub land. Climbers were trailed on bushes and trees on undulated landmass in disturbed sites near village MV-43. The tribal/rural inhabitants reported that the tender fruits are very bitter and occasionally cooked with other vegetables like pumpkin and tomato after double boiling the gourd till the bitterness reduces. pHenology. — Flowering: October-November; Fruiting: December-January. etymology. — The infra-specific epithet (variety) alba refers to the white colour of seeds. Conservation status. — Two different populations of the new taxon Luffa aegyptiaca var. alba R.C.Misra, var. nov. were recorded during the exploration survey in the wastelands near disturbed areas of Malkangiri and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha. The surrounding area is in danger of threats of possible biotic interferences of agriculture and colony encroachment and likely to face abrupt habitat loss. However, the data is inadequate to ascertain the conservation category. Hence, the variety can be included in the category of DD (Data Deficient), as further exploration is needed to access the exact size and range of distribution (IUCN 2022). aDDitional speCimens examineD. — India• Odisha, Mayurbhanj district, Samakhunta block, nearby village: Chipat Astia; 21°56.871’N, 86°43.097’E; 463 ft.; 18.XII.2019; R.C.Misra, HS no.1557-1558; seed germplasm acc. no. IC-636431 (collection no.RCM/PK/19/08); biological status: wild; frequency: rare; local name: “Palla”, “Pita jahni” (Odia). Key to tHe varieties of Luffa aegyptiaca mill. 1. Seeds black or dark grey, margin distinctly winged; stem glabrous, petiole 7.0-12.0 cm, male raceme 25-40 cm, pedicel 1-2 cm, calyx tube 7.5-10.0 mm, female flowers 10-13 cm across, corolla 8-10 cm across, fruits 15-45× 6-10 cm ................................................................................................. Luffa aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca Mill. — Seeds white or off-white, margin not winged; stem puberulous, petiole up to 5 cm, male raceme 12-25 cm, pedicel < 1 cm, calyx tube 4-7 mm, female flowers 7-9 cm, corolla 5.0-7.5 cm across, fruits 7-20× 5-8 cm ................................................................................................. Luffa aegyptiaca var. alba R.C.Misra, var.nov. table 1 . — Comparison of diagnostic characters among Luffa aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca, L. acutangula var. amara and L. aegyptiaca var. alba R.C.Misra, var. nov. Characters Luffa aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca Luffa acutangula var. amara Luffa aegyptiaca var. alba var. nov. Stem Glabrous, smooth Glabrous, angles scabrous Puberulent, scabrous Leaves Orbicular-reniform, glabrous, smooth, green beneath, 15-25 (30) × 15-25 cm; petiole 7-12 cm, glabrous Orbicular-cordate, pubescent, softly villous in young, scabrous, whitish beneath, 7-12 × 6-10 cm; petiole 2-4 cm, scabrous Orbicular-reniform, puberulent, scabrous, green beneath, 7-15 × 6-14 cm; petiole 1-5 cm, puberulent Male inflorescence Raceme 25-40 cm Raceme 10-15 cm Raceme 12-25 cm Male flowers Pedicel 1-2 cm, bracts 4-7.5 mm, 8-10 cm across; calyx tube 7.5-10 mm, calyx lobe 20-30 × 10-15 mm, apex acute, stamens 5 Pedicel 1-3 cm, bracts 3-7 mm, 3-4 cm across;calyx tube 5-8 mm, calyx lobe 4-6 × 2-4 mm, apex acuminate, stamens 3 Pedicel < 1 cm, bracts 2-3 mm, 5-7.5 cm across; calyx tube 4-7 mm, calyx lobe 10-15 × 3-7 mm, apex acuminate, stamens 5 Female flowers Deep yellow, 10-13 cm across, ovary smooth, cylindrical Pale yellow, 3.5-5 cm across, ovary prominently ribbed, club shaped Deep yellow, 7-9 cm across, ovary smooth, cylindrical Fruits Smooth, ecostate, oblong-cylindric, marked with longitudinal stripes, 15-45 × 6-10 cm Longitudinally 10-angled, obovoid, obtusely conical at both ends, 5-10 × 2.5-4 cm Smooth, ecostate, oblong-cylindric, often marked with longitudinal stripes, 7-20 × 5-8 cm Seeds Black or dark grey, not beaked, margin distinctly winged, smooth, 11-13 × 7-8 mm, average 90-500 seeds/fruit Black, beaked, margin wingless, rugulose or verrucose, 8-10 × 5 mm, average 15-30 seeds/fruit White, not beaked, margin wingless, smooth, 11-12 × 7-8 mm, average 30-80 seeds/fruit 315 A new sponge gourd from Odisha, India ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2025 • 47 (17) A AC B F HK L G J D I E fig. 2. — A-J, Luffa aegyptiaca var. alba R.C.Misra, var. nov.: A-C, occurrence of natural wild population of the variety on undulated open scrub land in Malkangiri and Mayurbhanj districts, Odisha; D, maintained in field gene bank; E, leaves; F, flowers: dorsal view; G, flowers: ventral view; H, dry fruits freshly collected; I, single fruit; J, seeds; K, L, L. aegyptiaca var. aegyptiaca: K, seeds with winged margin; L, separated wing fragments. Photographs: R. C. Misra. Scale bars: 2 cm. 316 ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2025 • 47 (17) Misra R. C.& Karmakar P. DesCription Large, fast growing, monoecious, prostrate or scandent annual climbing herb. Stem and branches puberulent, scabrous, sulcate, sometimes twisted; tendril 3-fid. Leaves narrowly orbicular-reniform to hastate, 7-15× 6-14cm, base deeply cordate, palmately 5-7 lobed, with deep basal sinus, apex acuminate, lobes shallow or deep, margin distantly thindenticulate, puberulous, hairy on nerves beneath, scabrous fig. 3. — Type specimen of Luffa aegyptiaca var. alba R.C.Misra, var. nov. (R.C.Misra HS no. 1550). 317 A new sponge gourd from Odisha, India ADANSONIA, sér. 3 • 2025 • 47 (17) above or on both sides, upper surface glandular-punctate; petiole puberulent, scabrous, 1-5cm, base pulvinous. Flowers dioecious, bright yellow, male and female often on the same axil, either staminate and sterile or pistillate and fertile. Male flowers: racemes 12-25cm long, in loose clusters; bracts linear to spathulate, 2-3mm, with 1-5 glands on surface; pedicel < 1cm, jointed near the top. Calyx broadly campanulate; tube short, 4-7mm; lobes 5, 10-15× 3-7mm; lanceolate, reflexed above, puberulent, 3-veined, tapering towards apex, acuminate. Corolla spreading, bright yellow, 5.0-7.5cm across, rotate, thinly hairy; petals 5, oblong, wedge shaped, 2.5-3.5× 1-2cm; densely villous inside, base attenuate, apex rounded-obtuse. Stamens usually 5, perfect, borne on calyx tube, free, inserted near mouth of the calyx tube; all 1-celled; sometimes 3, one 1-celled and two 2-celled; filaments 6-8mm, villous at base, connate at first later free; anthers narrow, twisted. Female flowers: solitary, co-axillary with male flowers, peduncle 5-8cm; calyx glandular, lobes 5, up to 1.6cm long; corolla 5, 7-9cm across, deep yellow, petals 4.0× 3.0cm; staminodes 3-5, imperfect, on the disc at the base of corolla, yellowish white, pointed at apex; pistil 1, ovary oblong to narrowly cylindric, 1-celled, appressed villous, style columnar; stigma 3lobed, 2cleft on both sides from middle; ovules many. Fruit pepo, oblong-cylindric, blunt at both ends, club shaped, 3-celled, smooth, ecostate, 7-20× 5-8cm, marked with longitudinal stripes; operculated, opening at apex by a lid when ripe, filled within with strong fibres which are branched and netted. Seeds ovate, smooth, not beaked, many, average 30-80 per fruit, white, margin wingless or wings indistinct, 11-12× 7-8mm, c.2mm thick, embedded in pulp when young. Acknowledgements The first author is grateful to the Director, ICAR-NBPGR and Head, Division of Germplasm Evaluation, ICAR-NBPGR, New Delhi for providing research facilities during the course of investigation. He is thankful to the Head, Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata for providing necessary permission for herbarium consultation at CAL, Howrah, India. The authors also thank Dr Thierry Deroin (MNHN) and Prof. Suhara Beevy (KUBH) for their remarks on a previous version of this article. REFERENCES ali a. m., Karuppusamy s. & faHaD m. a. 2010. — Molecular phylogenetic study of Luffa tuberosa Roxb. (Cucurbitaceae) based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA and its systematic implication. International Journal of Bioinformatics Research 2: 42-60. https://doi: 109735/09753087.2.2.42-60 C HaKravarty H. l. 1982. — Cucurbitaceae, in J ain s. K., n air n. C., n ayar m. p., s Harma b. D., a garwal v. s. & t HotHatHri K. (eds), Fascicles of Flora of India. Fascicle II. Botanical Survey of India, Howrah: 66-75. ClarKe C. b. 1879. — Cucurbitaceae, in HooKer J. D. (ed.), The Flora of British India. Vol.II. L. Reeve& Co Ltd., The Oast House, Brook, NR, Ashford, Kent, England, 614 p. CooKe t. 1903. — The Flora of the Presidency of Bombay. Vol. I. Taylor and Francis, London, 532 p. Drury H. 1864. — Handbook of the Indian Flora. Vol. I. Trabancore Sircar Press, Madras: 458-459. filipowiCz n., sCHaefer H. & renner s. s. 2014. — Revisiting Luffa (Cucurbitaceae) 25 years after C. Heiser: species boundaries and application of names tested with plastid and nuclear DNA sequences. Systematic Botany 39 (1): 205-215. https://doi. org/10.1600/036364414X678215 gamble J. s. 1919. — Flora of Presidency of Madras. Vol.III. Adlard and Son Limited, London, 533 p. Heiser C. b. & sCHilling e. e. 1988. — Phylogeny and distribution of Luffa (Cucurbitaceae). Biotropica 20 (3): 185-191. https:// doi.org/10.2307/2388233 Heiser C. b., sCHilling e. e. & Dutt b. 1988. — The American species of Luffa (Cucurbitaceae). Systematic Botany 13 (1): 138-145. https://doi.org/10.2307/2419250 iuCn 2022. — Guidelines for using the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. Version 15.1. https://www.iucnredlist.org/documents/ RedlistGuidelines.pdf Jeffrey C. 1980. — Further notes on Cucurbitaceae: V. The Cucurbitaceae of the Indian subcontinent. Kew Bulletin 34: 789-809. https://doi.org/10.2307/4119071 J effrey C. 2005. — A new system of Cucurbitaceae. Botanicheskii Zhurnal 90: 332-335. Kalloo g. 1993. — Loofah Luffa spp., in Kalloo g. & bergH B. O. (eds), Genetic Improvement of Vegetable Crops. Pergamon Press, Oxford, England: 265-266. KHan s. D., zaKi m. J. & moin s. 2017. — Seeds and seedlings characteristics of sponge gourd (Luffa cylindrica (L.) Roem.). International Journal of Biology and Biotechnology 14 (3): 379-396. Kumari s. a. s. m., naKanDala n. D. u. s., nawanJana p. w. i., ratHnayaKe r. m. s. K., senaviratHna H. m. t. n., seneviratHna r. w. K. m., wiJesunDara w. m. D. a., ranaweera l. t., mannanayaKe m. a. D. K., weebaDDe C. K. & sooriyapatHirana s. D. s. s. 2019. — The establishment of the speciesdelimits and varietal identities of the cultivated germplasm of Luffa acutangula and Luffa aegyptiaca in Sri Lanka using morphometric, organoleptic and phylogenetic approaches. PLoS ONE 14 (4): e0215176. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0215176 marr K. l., bHattarai n. K. & xia y. 2005. — Allozymic, morphological, and phenological diversity in cultivated Luffa acutangula from China, Laos, and Nepal, and allozyme divergence between L.acutangula and L.aegyptiaca. Economic Botany 59 (2): 154-165. https://doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2005)059[0154:AMAPDI ]2.0.CO;2 mavi K., gunDuz K., yilDirim D. & uzunoglu f. 2018. — Seed characteristics diversity in sponge gourd (Luffa aegyptiaca Mill.) germplasms from Hatay Region in Turkey. Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca: Horticulture 75 (1): 40-46. https://doi.org/10.15835/buasvmcn-hort:000118 niColson D. H., suresH C. r. & manilal K. s. 1988. — An Interpretation of Van Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus, Regnum Vegetabile. Vol.119. Koeltz Scientific Books, the University of Michigan, 378 p. panDey a. & praKasH K. 2013. — A note on debatable taxonomic identity of Luffa tuberosa Roxb. (Cucurbitaceae): A potential wild edible vegetable in India. Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources 26 (2): 124-127. https://ispgr.in/index.php/ijpgr/article/view/1793 powo 2024. — Luffa: Luffa aegyptiaca Mill. Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/ urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:293060-1 [last access on 23 October 2024] prain D. 1903. — Bengal Plants. Vol.I. (reprinted 1981). Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun: 519-520. praKasH K., raDHamani J., panDey a. & yaDav s. 2014. — Apreliminary investigation of cultivated and wild species of Luffa for oil and protein contents. Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization 12 (1): 103-111. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S1479226211300035X