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Telfairia occidentalis

Authority Hook. f. Family Magnoliopsida:Dilleniidae:Violales:Cucurbitaceae Synonyms Common names Editor Ecocrop code 10307

Notes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION A vigorous, climbing vine with stems up to 10 m in length. The leaves are composed of 3-5 palmately arranged leaflets, the terminal leaflet being up to 15 cm in length. The fruit is pale green, with waxy deposit, strongly ribbed at maturity, up to 25 cm in diameter and 3-6 kg in weight and with light yellow, fibrous flesh. The seeds are flattened, about 3.5 cm in diameter and each fruit produce about 30-70 seeds. USES Cultivated for its edible seeds and young shoots and leaves. The seeds are cooked and eaten like beans and the shoots and leaves are eaten like vegetables. GROWING PERIOD Perennial vine. The first harvest of female shoots and leaves may begin 80-90 days from sowing, and up to 15 harvests may be obtained during the following 120-160 days. Fruits mature about 120-150 days from sowing. COMMON NAMES Fluted pumpkin, Fluted gourd, Telfairia nut, Calabaza costillada, Iroko, Krobonko, Oroko, Pondokoko, Gonugbe, Oysternut, Okongebong, Igu, Kwerne. FURTHER INF Tolerant to elevations up to 1000 m in the tropics. Prefer humid conditions.
Sources
SOURCES (Telfairia occidentalis H.f.) Tindall H 1983 pp 184-186 [TEXT, FER, LIG, TEMP] Roecklein J 1987 pp 497 [USE] Hackett C 1982 pp 69 [FER] Duke J 1975 pp 29 [PH, RAIN, TEMP]