Sechium edule (Jacq.) Sw.

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Photo: Bart Wursten
24, Athlone Avenue, Greendale

Synonyms:
Common names:	Chayote (English) Cho cho (English) Chou chou (English) Susu (English)
Description:	Large herbaceous climber. Leaves broadly ovate, shallowly lobed. Fruit broadly pear-shaped, sometimes irregularly lobed and often spiny.
Notes:	Very commonly grown in Zimbabwean gardens for its edible fruit and tubers.
Derivation of specific name:	edule: edible
Flowering time:
Worldwide distribution:	Native in Mexico and Belize. Widely cultivated in the tropics for its edible fruit or tubers and naturalized in South America and parts of Asia. In Africa so far only recorded as naturalized from Cameroon.
Growth form(s):
Insects associated with this species:
Spot characters:	Display spot characters for this species
Image last updated:	Thursday 15 January 2009
Literature:	Bailey, L.H. & Bailey, E.Z. (1976). Hortus Third. A concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc., New York Page 1023.

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Sechium edule
African Plant Database: Sechium edule
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Sechium edule
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Sechium edule
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Sechium edule
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Sechium edule
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Sechium edule
JSTOR Plant Science: Sechium edule
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Sechium edule
Plants of the World Online: Sechium edule
Tropicos: Sechium edule
Wikipedia: Sechium edule