Lagenaria rufa

Lagenaria rufa (Gilg) C.Jeffrey

Lagenaria rufa is a climbing vine in the Cucurbitaceae family, native to Western Africa. It produces flowers ranging in color from white to yellow and bears a gourd-like fruit that changes from dark green to cream-orange when ripe.

Description

Lagenaria rufa (Gilg) C.Jeffrey is a species of flowering plant in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. It is a climbing vine found in several countries across Western and Central Africa, including Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zaïre, and Guinée forestière. The plant produces white to yellow flowers and develops a gourd-shaped fruit. The fruit starts as dark green and matures to a cream-orange color. This species was first described in 1962.