Trichosanthes

Trichosanthes
	Trichosanthes tricuspidata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Subfamily:	Cucurbitoideae
Tribe:	Sicyoeae
Genus:	Trichosanthes; L.
Species
	See text
Synonyms
	Anguina Mill.; Cucumeroides Gaertn.; Eopepon Naudin; Involucraria Ser.; Platygonia Naudin

Trichosanthes is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines. They belong to the cucumber family (Cucurbitaceae), and are closely related to Gymnopetalum. Hodgsonia, formerly included here, is usually considered a well-distinct genus nowadays.

The shoots, tendrils, and leaves of some or possibly all species may be eaten as greens, and at least two species (serpent gourd, T. cucumerina, and pointed gourd, T. dioica) are grown commercially for their fleshy fruits used as vegetables, most popular in South Asia and Southeast Asia. At least two species (T. kirilowii and T. rosthornii) are grown for use in traditional Chinese medicine, where they are called the name gualou (Chinese: 瓜蒌; pinyin: guālóu). Trichosanthes is also known as a medicinal as well as poisonous plant in India.^[1] The herb has shown an ability to reduce chest congestion by breaking down phlegm and aiding in its removal from the lungs.^[2]^{[unreliable source?]}

Selected species

Trichosanthes baviensis Gagnepain
Trichosanthes cochinchinensis (Lour) M. Roem.
Trichosanthes cucumerina – Serpent gourd, Padwal; dhunduli (Assamese); chichinga/chichinge (Bengali); paduvalakaayi (Kannada); padavalanga (Malayalam); purla (Sambalpuri); pathola (Sinhala); Pudol, Kurattai OR Sauri (Tamil); potlakaaya (Telugu)
- Trichosanthes cucumerina var. anguina – Snake gourd
Trichosanthes dioica – Pointed gourd, parwal (Hindi), potol / potals (eastern India & Northeastern Andhra)
Trichosanthes dunniana Levl.
Trichosanthes fissibracteata C.Y.Wu ex C.Y.Cheng & Yueh
Trichosanthes globosa Blume
Trichosanthes homophylla Hayata
Trichosanthes kerrii Craib
Trichosanthes kinabaluensis Rugayah
Trichosanthes kirilowii – "gualou" (China) (= T. japonica)
Trichosanthes laceribractea Hayata
Trichosanthes lepiniana (Nuad.) Cogn.
Trichosanthes montana Rugayah
Trichosanthes pedata Merr. & Chun
Trichosanthes pendula Rugayah
Trichosanthes pilosa (Ser.) Maxim in Franch. & Sav. - Japanese snake gourd; karasuuri[烏瓜] (Japanese)
Trichosanthes pentaphylla F.Muell. ex Benth.
Trichosanthes postarii W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes
Trichosanthes quinquangulata A.Gray
Trichosanthes reticulinervis C.Y.Wu ex S.K.Chen
Trichosanthes rosthornii Harms – "gualou" (China) (= T. uniflora)
Trichosanthes rubiflos Thorel ex Cayla
Trichosanthes rugatisemina C.Y.Cheng & Yueh
Trichosanthes scabra Lour.
Trichosanthes schlechteri Cogn. ex Harms
Trichosanthes sepilokensis Rugayah
Trichosanthes sericeifolia C.Y.Cheng & Yueh
Trichosanthes subrosea C.Y.Cheng & Yueh
Trichosanthes subvelutina F.Muell. ex Cogn.
Trichosanthes tricuspidata Lour. (= T. bracteata, T. palmata)
Trichosanthes truncata C.B.Clarke
Trichosanthes villosa Blume – "baduyut" (Sundanese)
Trichosanthes wallichiana (Ser.) Wight
Trichosanthes wawraei (Ser.) Xianyu.W

In addition, several hybrids are known in this genus.

Formerly placed in Trichosanthes were for example Kedrostis foetidissima and Linnaeosicyos amara.

References

^ Bobade, Amitesh Ashok; Thatte, Chinmay Vinay; Tijare, Rutuja Babanrao (30 September 2022). "Trichosanthes cucumerina: A perspective on various medicinal uses or activities" (PDF). GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences. 20 (3): 141–147. doi:10.30574/gscbps.2022.20.3.0350. S2CID 252230143. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
^ Kate Wright (2009). "Natural Anti-Viral Support for Coughs and Congestion". Nutrition Review. 4 (4).
^ Nong DX, Huang BY, Lan ZZ, Xie DM, Yu LY, Huang LQ (2015) Trichosanthes napoensis (Cucurbitaceae), a new species from Guangxi, China. Phytotaxa 207(3): 297-300

External links

Media related to Trichosanthes at Wikimedia Commons
Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne
ITIS report

[1] Bobade, Amitesh Ashok; Thatte, Chinmay Vinay; Tijare, Rutuja Babanrao (30 September 2022). "Trichosanthes cucumerina: A perspective on various medicinal uses or activities" (PDF). GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences. 20 (3): 141–147. doi:10.30574/gscbps.2022.20.3.0350. S2CID 252230143. Retrieved 22 February 2023.

[2] Kate Wright (2009). "Natural Anti-Viral Support for Coughs and Congestion". Nutrition Review. 4 (4).

[3] Nong DX, Huang BY, Lan ZZ, Xie DM, Yu LY, Huang LQ (2015) Trichosanthes napoensis (Cucurbitaceae), a new species from Guangxi, China. Phytotaxa 207(3): 297-300

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