Coccinia Grandis, the Ivy Gourd vine
Ivy gourd vine is also called as Baby watermelon, little gourd, gentleman's toes and popularly termed as Tindora belonging to the Family Cucurbitaceae. Roots form everytime the branch touches the soil.
Each root is enlarged giving the ability to grow long period of the season.
The leaves are slightly broad and flat shaped as a heart and having sometimes different shapes of leaves seen. The flower is white with five petals with a tube-like base.
This vine is fast growing and aggressive in growth.It is said that the growth is 4 inches per day. There is a wonderful and true saying that is if we don't consume the ivy gourd, Ivy gourd will consume the environment. That much aggressive and dominating growth is its nature. This vine smothers the nearby trees.
In my home garden, this aggressive vine smothers the lemon tree nearby. The vine is recorded as an invasive weed in Pacific Islands.
Perennial vine up to 12 m tall which forms the dense leaves and vines that cover the entire shrubs and trees nearby. Stems are green slender and when it matured becomes succulent and thick.
Flowers are not seen in our garden because I remove certain stems whenever it covers the lemon tree.I heard from my mom that the fruits are wonderful red colour and soft the parrots love to eat this fruit.
Health benefits of this Ivy gourd is amazing.
Prevents kidney stones.
It controls blood sugar levels.
It acts as a immune system regulator.
It is rich in Beta-carotene.
It is used for culinary purpose. I rarely use these young leaves of the ivy gourd vine for green gravy. Sometimes I add two different greens with this Ivy gourd leaves in dal base and consume. It is very tasty. For that nutritional and culinary benefits, I love this vine very much.
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