2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
This amazing fast-growing liana with a beautiful and mysterious name "Luffa", which was born in the tropics of Southeast Asia, is managed by tireless gardeners of our severe weather country in order to enjoy its intricate fruits, which, when fully mature, will be useful in the household
The history of the origin of the Latin name of the genus of plants
Luffa is a whole community of plants growing in different parts of the globe with related morphological characteristics. If the homeland for "Egyptian Luffa" and "Sharp-ribbed Luffa" are the tropical lands of Southeast Asia, then "Luffa covered" chose the tropics of Central and South America for itself. Perhaps there is nothing strange in this, because there were times when there was a single continent on the planet.
But, ironically, the Latin name of the genus "Luffa" was born on a completely different continent, in Africa. This happened because the first botanist who made a complete description of the amazing plant was Johann Wesling (1598 -1649), who has German roots, but worked in Italy, therefore in literature he is called either a German botanist or an Italian one. Actually, he was a doctor, and botany was an "applied" science for him, since he was most interested in medicinal plants. Among his works was a published book on the flora of Egypt. It was in Egypt that the Europeans first got acquainted with such plants, and therefore Wesling introduced their Arabic name, which sounded like "Luff" or "Luffa". Although, at first, he gave the plant the name "Egyptian Cucumber".
Attractive abilities of plants of the genus
Among the fifty plant species of the Luffa genus, there are plants with a wide variety of qualities and abilities. Such species as Egyptian Luffa and Sharp-ribbed Luffa are valued by people for their large fruits, which in their appearance resemble cucumbers familiar to Russians, though of a longer size.
In Luffa Egyptian, the surface of the fruit is smooth, and Luffa sharp-ribbed armed its fruits with sharp longitudinal edges, for which it received the corresponding name. But the internal content of the fruits of these two species are similar to each other and resemble in structure and taste the pulp of a cucumber. Therefore, in a number of countries in Southeast Asia, annual vines are grown as a vegetable crop.
True, fruits are vegetables only at a young age. As the fruit ripens, the pulp, giving its nutrients to the seeds, becomes fibrous and inedible. But people have found useful use even for such fruits. Having cleared ripe "cucumbers" from seeds, the fibrous base is washed and dried in the sun, resulting in natural washcloths that are used for hygienic purposes. Such washcloths help to maintain cleanliness and elasticity of the skin, since they not only remove everything unnecessary from the skin, but also massage it along the way. Washcloths are also used for cleaning kitchen utensils, filters, rugs and other household items, including sun hats.
Healing abilities
A number of species of the genus cannot boast of the edibility of their fruits, since the bitterness contained in them is not only unpleasant for the human tongue, but also toxic, and therefore is poisonous in large doses.
Such species include, for example, Luffa covered, which is native to the American tropics, and Luffa prickly, especially popular in India. The fruits of these species are small in size, and their surface is covered with plant bristles and sharp thorns, which also does not add to their attractiveness.
But, as you know, many bitterness, if properly dosed, acquire healing powers that help fight many diseases. It is for such abilities that the above species give rise to the respect of people. The medicinal range of these plants is very wide, and therefore Luffa prickly is very actively used by folk medicine in Asian countries, especially in India, and Luffa covered is a raw material for drugs used to treat rhinitis.
Warning
When a person gets sick, he wants to get rid of painful symptoms as soon as possible, and therefore some people immediately start taking large doses of drugs. Such an attitude towards drugs does not so much cure a person as it cripples him.
American scientists, having conducted experiments on the unfortunate frogs, concluded that the doses of Luffa drugs that Europeans and Americans use today are more likely to harm, not benefit, and can lead to structural changes in the epithelium of the nasal mucosa.
As for the self-treatment of Luffa prickly, here the doctors of India are sounding the alarm, warning people that the high toxicity of the plant can also harm health if the doses are exceeded for the body.
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