Winter melon - Benincasa cerifera

Japanese: トウガン(冬瓜) - トウガン（英語表記）Benincasa cerifera

A creeping annual plant of the Cucurbitaceae family. It is also called touga or kamouri. Native to tropical Asia, it was introduced to Japan via China long ago. The fruit is boiled and edible. The stem is long and grows above ground, covered with coarse hairs. The leaves are palmately divided into 5 to 7 lobes and have hairs on both sides. In summer, yellow unisexual flowers grow one at a time in each leaf axil. The fruit is a large, spherical berry that has soft hairs on its surface when young, but when ripe, they fall off and are covered with white wax. The fruit is durable and can be stored until winter. The seeds maintain their viability for about 10 years. The Japanese name is a phonetic abbreviation of touga, and kamouri is named after the hairs on the surface of the fruit.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

ウリ科のつる性の一年草。トウガまたはカモウリともいう。熱帯アジアの原産で，古く中国を経て日本に伝わった。果実は煮て食用とする。茎は長く伸びて地上をはい全体にあらい毛がある。葉は掌状に5～7裂し，両面に毛をもつ。夏に，葉腋に黄色の単性花を1個ずつつける。果実は大型の球形の液果で，若いときには表面に軟毛をもつが，熟すると脱落し白色のろう質でおおわれる。果実に耐久性があるため冬まで保存できる。また種子は 10年ぐらいは発芽力を維持する。和名はトウガの音便であり，カモウリは果実の表面に毛があることによる名である。

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