White Gourd, Ash Gourd, Wax Gourd, Winte

Usually monoecious, annual herb climbing by 2–3-fid tendrils up to 35 cm long; stem up to 5 m long, thick, terete, longitudinally furrowed, whitish-green with scattered rough hairs. • Leaves distichously alternate, simple; stipules absent; petiole 5–20 cm long; blade broadly ovate in outline, 10–25 cm × 10–20 cm, deeply cordate at base, apex acuminate, margin more or less deeply and irregularly 5–11-angular or -lobed and irregularly undulate-crenate or toothed, densely patently hispid on both sides, 5–7-veined from the base. • Flowers solitary in leaf axils, unisexual, regular, 5-merous, 6–12 cm in diameter; calyx campanulate, densely silky; petals almost free, yellow; male flowers with pedicel 5–15 cm long and 3 stamens; female flowers with pedicel 2–4 cm long, an inferior, ovoid or cylindrical, densely villose ovary, and a short style with 3 curved stigmas.

Uses:- Wax gourd is grown both for its immature and mature fruits. The immature fruits, called fuzzy melons, have a delicate taste and flavour and are prepared in the same way as summer squash from Cucurbita pepo L. In India they are used extensively in curries. The ripe fruits have juicy greenish-white flesh with a flat taste. They are especially popular among people of Asian descent, but they are also liked by many Africans. The skin is peeled or scraped off, seeds and pith are removed, and the flesh is cooked in soups.