Luffa aegyptiaca
Encyclopedia
Luffa
The luffa, loofah, or lufah are tropical and subtropical vines comprising the genus Luffa, the only genus of the subtribe Luffinae of the plant family Cucurbitaceae...
. Commonly known as Smooth Luffa, Egyptian Luffa and mướp hương in Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
, sometimes under the obsolete name Luffa cylindrica and frequently misspelled "Luffa aegyptica", it is cultivated and grown for its fruit. The fruit resembles a cucumber
Cucumber
The cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon. The plant is a creeping vine which bears cylindrical edible fruit when ripe. There are three main varieties of cucumber: "slicing", "pickling", and...
. Young fruit can be eaten as a vegetable while ripe fruits can be use to make bath sponges. They may also be grown as an ornamental plant
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
. It is native to northern Africa, but is now found in many tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
