About Trichosanthes pilosa Lour.
Trichosanthes pilosa (scientific name Trichosanthes pilosa Lour.) is a species of flowering plant that belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. It is a tropical or semitropical vine that produces edible fruit. This species is native to Japan, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, multiple regions of China including Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Xizang (Tibet), and Zhejiang, other parts of Southeast Asia, and Australia. In English, it is commonly called Japanese snake gourd. In terms of vegetative traits, Japanese snake gourd (T. pilosa) is very similar to the more widely distributed common snake gourd, Trichosanthes cucumerina. The flowers and leaves of the two species are very alike, but the fruit of T. pilosa ranges from round to egg-shaped, measuring roughly 7 cm long, and does not have the snake-like shape of the fruit of Trichosanthes cucumerina.
