Family: Cucurbitaceae
Synonym: Luffa cordifolia Blume, Thladiantha calcarata C.B. Clarke
Bengali/Vernacular name:Keshkorola.
Tribal name: Paranga ludi (Chakma), Muipan chokh (Tripura).
English name:Golden creeper.
Description of the plant: A large, pubescent, climbing herb. Stem much-branched, robust, angular-sulcate. Tendrils simple, pubescent at first, glabrescent at age. Leaves membranous, ovate-cordate, apex acuminate, base cordate, margin irregularly dentate. Flowers bell-shaped, about 2 cm, with petals turned back at the tips. Male flowers borne in the axils of broad, fringed bracts, in stalked clusters 5-8 cm long. Female flowers: solitary, slender, 2-4 cm long. Fruits oblong, 3-5 cm long, 2-3 cm in diameter.
Plant parts used:Leaf, root.
Herbal uses:Paste prepared from the leaves of the plant is applied to the affected areas for rapid healing of cuts and wounds.
A fresh juice extracted from the leaves of the plant is taken once a day (two tea spoons amount each time) for three days to treat cough after adding little amount of salt.
Cottonseed-sized pills made with the roots and leaves of the plant are taken four times a day (one pill each time) for five days to treat diarrhoea.
Pea-sized pills made with the leaves of the plant are taken twice a day (one pill each time) until the abdominal tumour is cured.
A fresh juice extracted from the roots of the plant is taken thrice a day (two tea spoons amount each time) for three days to treat hysteria.
Pea-sized pills made withe the roots of the plant are taken thrice a day (one pill each time) for three days to treat stomachache.
Distribution:The species is found in Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Gazipur, Sylhet districts, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Is this plant misidentified? If yes, please tell us….
New to me. Thanks for sharing & nice to know the Bengali name – কেশকরলা।