''Sicana odorifera'' is a large, herbaceous perennial vine native to tropical South America, grown as an ornamental plant and for its sweet edible fruit. English names include cassabanana or casbanan, sikana, puttigel and musk cucumber.
The fast-growing, fleshy vine can reach 15 m or more in height, climbing with four-part adhesive
tendril
In botany, a tendril is a specialized stem, leaf or petiole with a threadlike shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as ''Cuscuta''. There are many plants that have tendr ...
s. The large, hairy, palmately lobed leaves grow to 30 cm in width.
The fruit is large, up to 60 cm long, with skin of variable color. The fruit has a delicious, melon-like taste when it is ripe, which needs high temperatures to ripen. The sweet, aromatic, yellow-to-orange flesh of the mature fruit is eaten raw or made into
preserves
Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread.
There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method ...
. The immature fruit can be cooked as a vegetable.
Cultivation
It is propagated by seeds. It is grown widely in the warm parts of Latin America, as well as by the
Cajun people
The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
While Cajuns are usually described as ...
of the southern United States. It needs good drainage to grow well, and does well on an acidic mix of sand (or
perlite
Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently. It is an industrial m ...
) and rich compost.
References
External links
Information from ''Fruits of Warm Climates''
Cucurbitoideae
Flora of South America
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