snake melon is also called snake king melon, snake bean, snake towel gourd, soybean horn, etc. It is widely planted in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. Cucurbita pepo mainly uses tender fruits as vegetables, but tender leaves and stems can also be eaten. Stir-fried food and soup are all unique. Because the whole nutritional value of snake melon is very high, it is very beneficial to the body as a whole, so it has certain medicinal value.

Morphological characteristics of Cucurbita pepo

Annual climbing vine; The stems are slender, multi-branched, with longitudinal edges and grooves, pubescent and sparsely villous. Leaf blade is membranous, round or kidney-shaped, 8-16 cm long, 12-18 cm wide, 3-7-lobed to middle-lobed, sometimes deeply lobed, with extremely variable lobes, usually obovate, asymmetrical on both sides, with rounded or broad triangular apex, short pointed, with alienated teeth at the edge, deeply heart-shaped leaf base bent, about 3 cm deep, green on the top, pubescent and loosely pilose. Petiole is 3.5-8 cm long, with longitudinal stripes, densely pubescent and sparsely pilose bristles. Tendrils 2-3, longitudinally striped, pubescent. Flowers are monoecious. Male flowers form a raceme, often with a solitary female flower, the peduncle is 1-18 cm long, sparsely pubescent and long bristles, with 8-1 flowers at the top, the pedicel is thin, 5-12 mm long and densely pubescent; Bracts subulate-lanceolate, 3(-5) mm long; Calyx tube is nearly cylindrical, 2.5-3 cm long, slightly enlarged at the top, 4-5 mm in diameter, densely pubescent and sparsely villous, lobes narrowly triangular, about 2 mm long, base about 1 mm wide, reflexed; Corolla white, lobes ovoid-oblong, 7-8 mm long, 3 mm wide, with 3 veins, tassels nearly as long as corolla lobes; Anther column ovoid, about 3 mm long, filaments slender, about 2 mm long; Degenerate pistil with 3 slender separated styles. Female flowers are solitary, pedicels are less than 1 cm long and densely villous; Calyx and corolla are androgynous; Ovary rod-shaped, 2.5-3 cm long, about 3 mm in diameter, densely pubescent and villous. The fruit is cylindrical, 1-2 meters long and 3-4 cm in diameter, usually twisted, green with pale stripes when young, orange and yellow when mature, with more than 1 seeds. The seed is oblong, hidden in the bright red pulp, 11-17 mm long and 8-1 mm wide, grayish brown, with the umbilical end narrowed, the other end rounded or slightly truncated, with shallow wavy teeth at the edge and wrinkles on both sides. Flower and fruit period: late summer and autumn.

efficacy and function of Cucurbita pepo

efficacy: clearing away heat, promoting fluid production, clearing away damp heat and killing insects.

indications: it can be used for treating fever, body fluid damage caused by pathogenic heat, dry mouth, polydipsia, polydipsia, polyuria, thirst quenching and jaundice.

usage and dosage of snake melon

for oral administration: 3-9g of decoction.

contraindications of Cucurbita pepo

Proper dosage.

is it poisonous?

no.