Luffa cylindrica, the sponge gourd, Egyptian cucumber or Vietnamese luffa, is an annual species of vine cultivated for its fruit, native to South and Southeast Asia.
The synonymous botanical specific epithet 'aegyptiaca' was given to this plant in the 16th century when European botanists were introduced to the plant from its cultivation in Egypt. In the European botanical literature, the plant was first described by Johann Veslingius in 1638, who named it 'Egyptian cucumber'. Veslingius also introduced ...