Luffa aegyptiaca

Smooth Luffa, also know as water gourd in chinese, is a rampant, fast growing annual vine that produces pretty yellow flowers and strange looking fruits that are edible when immature and used as back scrubbers or sponges when fully mature.  Although the fruits are edible, the ridged luffa, also known as the Silk gourd, has a sweeter taste when compared with the smooth luffa.

When fully matured the fruits become a tough mass of fiber that makes a great scrubbing sponge. These natural cellulose fiber wonders of the vegetable world have many uses. They can exfoliate loose cells from your skin and make you squeaky clean or shine up your dirty dishes. 
Loofahs are most excellent in the bath or shower. 

The exfoliating action leaves your skin feeling the cleanest and tightest it could possibly be. Scrubbing your back with a luffa sponge in the bath or shower is an incredibly pleasurable experience. Soap and luffa fibers are a natural cleaning combination resulting in wonderful loofah soap. Home and professional artisan craft soap makers include slices of luffa fiber in their creations to add an extra cleaning boost to their soaps. A loofah section can be placed in a cylindrical mold, filled with soap, cured, and sliced. Shredded or powdered luffa fibers can also be mixed into a soap base before pouring into a mold.

Luffa sponges are great for washing items like large pots and other containers. We use them for cleaning almost everything, including cars, boats, plastic buckets, and anything that needs scrubbed but can't withstand steel wool. Non stick cookware is one example.

A large loofah or a smaller piece on a handle or rope makes a great back scratcher. They can be cut into many shapes for scrubbing pads, padding, and other craft uses. The loofahs can be cut lengthwise with the core removed to make sheets of sponge material. These sheets of luffa material can be sewn into items like table hot pads, sandals, bath mats, hats, or anything else you can imagine.

Growing a Sponge: 
Pick the gourds once they start to turn yellow and are becoming very light in weight. Peal them as soon as possible, the longer the skin stays on, the darker the sponges will get, and where the brown spots are, becomes hard to peel and the sponge beneath is discoloured. 
Cut both ends to begin to peel of the outer skin and gently tug the skin away from the sponge. Inside the spongy gourd is moist and fibrous. 

Squeeze it repeatedly from the middle towards the ends to remove the fleshy substance inside and the wash it thoroughly. 
Plenty of large black seeds will come out – wash, dry and store them somewhere dry and cool for next year.
If the sponge is discoloured, soak it for 5 minutes in warm water with a little bleach. Dry the sponge by either hanging outdoors in fine weather or by placing in an oven at 150 degrees or so. 

Sponges can be cut into sections or left whole. Add a length of hemp rope if you like to hang up your shower sponge. A large crop can yield quite a few Christmas gifts. 

Silk gourd-Luffa acutangula

The Silk Gourd is a hardy, high-yielding gourd mainly grown in Asia as a 

vegetable. 
Also known as the ridged Luffa, the flesh is comparatively sweeter than
the smooth luffa, or Luffa aegyptiaca.

Its fruit slightly resembles a cucumber or zucchini with ridges.

It ranges from central and eastern Asia to southeastern Asia.

It is also grown as a houseplant in places with colder climates.

Young Silk Gourd, ready to be harvested.

The fruit must be harvested when it's still young, as it

develops too much fibers for consumption after this stage. 

The gourd is mainly grown and eaten in China and Vietnam.

Sowing: 

Store seeds until planting time in their packaging in a cool, dark, dry place. 

(Do not refrigerate) Sow indoors at temperatures above 20°C (68°F).

Sow outdoors if you live in a subtropical climate when outdoor temperatures

have reached at least 20 degrees, and is best planted in spring. 

for tropical countries, Silk gourd can be grown year-round.

The plants need a long growing season to get a good crop of sponges. 

Soak seed for two hours in warm water before sowing. Fill small pots 

with a good free draining seed compost. Stand the pots in water until

 the medium is completely moist. Place seed on the surface and 

press into the compost. Cover with a sprinkling of compost or vermiculite.

Bottom heat is helpful, place in a propagator if you have one or

seal the container inside a polythene bag and place in a warm l

ocation out of direct sunlight. Do not exclude light at any stage 

as this is beneficial to germination. 

Germination usually takes 7 to 21 days at 20 to 30°F (68 to 86°F).

Cultivation: 

Plant out in spring(subtropics) or in early summer(USA and Europe,

after all risk of frost has gone. 

The plant can often survive in partial shade with some direct

sunlight but grow better in full sun. In a very hot dry climate

they will need some watering as they tend to wilt if it gets too dry. 

The vines are easy to grow with no insect problems but will 

benefit from the application of a fertiliser with high nitrogen

content once a month after the flowers appear. 

The Luffa plant is a fast-growing, long-season, 

warm-climate vine plant that can climb up to 4½ metres (15ft) high. 

Support the vine on a strong trellis or fence. 

A strong supporting trellis or fence is a must. 

Silk gourds are natural climbers, and do well with trellis.

Pollination: 

Luffa plants need insects to carry out the pollinating process for setting fruits, although most modern day Luffa varieties do not need pollination at all. If the insects or bees are not available in your area, the pollination process can be done manually, by picking up male flowers and transferring pollens to female flowers (by face-to-face touching the center part of flowers). This process should be carried out when flowering is active during the daytime. 

The plant is monoecious, that is, it has both male and female blossoms on the same vine. The male blooms drop, while the females remain attached to the developing fruit.

Once pollinated, the fat portion of the female flower will grow into full size fruit. The vegetables fairly rush toward maturity, growing at the rate of about 4cm (1½in) a day. 

Many varieties could perform relatively poor during the long day season in early summer and perform much better during the late summer and autumn when the shorter daytime season arrives.

Harvest: 

The fruit is edible only when immature. Harvest tender young fruits, 15 to 40cm (6 to 15in) long is ideal for eating, approx 100 days after sowing the seeds and harvest for sponges approx 30 days later. When picked fresh, the green loofah is slightly softer than a cucumber and slightly crispier than an aubergine (eggplant / zucchini).

Culinary Uses:

The Luffa is a very easy to use edible squash. Very young fruit can be sliced and added raw to salads where it gives a mild cucumber-like flavour. When the gourds are gherkin-sized they can be added to stir fry and in soups and sauces because it has the ability to soak up the flavours and add texture. It is also batter dipped and fried. But the real gastronomic utility of this vegetable lies in its ability to substitute for squash or zucchini, or for eggplant in parmigiana. And one especially hearty recipe adapted from a traditional dish using green peppers is for stuffed luffa.

Silk Gourd also makes an excellent vegetable for making soups. 

Iris speculatrix

Habit: Usually grows in mountain slopes and forest edges. Prefers shaded and humid areas with rich and well drained soil with ph 5.0 to 6.0. It grows in small colonies with 

Iris speculatrix is native to Hong Kong and a few areas in southern China.
It is commonly distributed in Cape D'Aguilar, Shek O, Stanley, Tai Tam, Po Toi Island. Often found growing along trail paths among the shrubs. Not found in forest.
A few scarce specimens may be growing in Lantau island and other areas in Hong Kong. 

In Hong Kong, the species is commonly found along the path of Wilson Trail, section 1, and in the slopes of Dragon Back and Shek O.

Flowering: Iris speculatrix flowers from late march to early May. Shape and color varies from plant to plant, with flowering stems 20-25 cm long, 1- or 2-leaved; spathes 2 or 3, green, lanceolate, 5.5-7.5 cm long, 1 or 2-flowered; pedicels 3-5.5 cm long. Flowers violet to light blue, 5.6-6 cm in diameter. Fruits develop from April to June.


This species was first discovered on Hong Kong Island by Hance in 1875. The large and colourful flowers make it an attractive ornamental plant.

Passiflora Miniata

Passiflora Miniata, also know as the Scarlet passion flower, Red passion flower is a fast growing vine, bearing striped, 2 cm passion fruits with edible pulp. Its beautiful dark-red flowers share similarities with those of Passiflora coccinea. It is usually grown by cuttings. 

Native to the Amazon region of Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia as well as Venezuela and the Guianas.
It grows wild in forest, and can grow in elevations from 100m~2000m.

Botanical Name: Passiflora miniata Vanderplank (synonym: Passiflora coccinea hort.)

Note: for decades, it was erroneously known worldwide as P. coccinea Aubl. but found to be a different species from the true P. coccinea by John Vanderplank in 2006 who correctly described and published its new name as P. miniata Vanderplank.
Common Name: Red Granadilla, Red Passion Flower, Scarlet Passion Flower, Passionflower, Passion Vine, Monkey Guzzle (Bolivia), Thome Assu (Brazil)
Family name: Passifloraceae
Etymology and name: The common name of Passion Flower was instituted by the Spanish Christian missionaries to South America in the 15th-16th centuries who interpreted various structures of the plant as symbolic of the last days of Jesus Christ and his crucifixion. Check at Wikipedia to know more of this religious symbolism and other names adopted in Europe and elsewhere.

Origin: Native to Southern America – Bolivia, Colombia and Peru in Western South America and Brazil.


Plant type: Tropical perennial vine with striking red flowers and edible fruits. May not fruit if there isn't another plant to pollinate.

Propagation: Can be done by seeds, but the most effective way is by cloning. That can be done by partially burying a stem so that is can set root, or it can be done by air-grafting. 

Passiflora Edulis Var. Flavicarpa

Scientific Name: Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa
Synonym: Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa
Common Names: Liliko'i, Lilikoi, Yellow Passionfruit, Yellow skinned Passion Fruit
Plant Characteristics
Duration: 3-7 years.
Growth Habit: Climbing Vine
Hawaii Native Status: Introduced. This naturalized ornamental garden plant and food plant is native to the Amazon region in Brazil.
Flower Color: White to tinged purple
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer, Fall

Height: To 20 feet (6 m) long

Passiflora Edulis Var. Flavicarpa is another closely related plant to the Passiflora Edulis. The yellow passion fruit  is known to be slightly bigger in size than the purple passionfruit, and yields a large, slightly oval fruit. The yellow passionfruit is also sweeter in
taste when compared to the passionfruit, and often yields more fruit than the purple passionfruit. 



The Yellow Passion Fruit is one of several species of the genus -all woody, perennial vines native to the tropical Americas- that produce edible fruits. It is a fast-growing vine and is also suitable for ornamental screening purposes. The alternate curly leaves are deeply 3-lobed, and the vines climb readily by means of long tendrils in each leaf axil.

The yellow passion fruit is an excellent home fruit and offers great possibilities for commercialization in the American Tropics.

The Yellow Passion Fruit is also resistant to a wilt disease, probably caused by a species of Fusarium, which kills the plants.

Germination Info:
It is recommended to pretreat Passiflora seeds before planting. They contain a hard seed coat and are very slow to sprout. There are various pretreatment methods, but the simplest is to soak the seeds for 24-48 hours in warm to the touch water, just prior to planting. Optionally, seeds can be lightly scarified with sand paper to provide some permeation on the seed coat.


Once pretreated, plant seeds 1/2-1" deep in moist, sterile soil. Keep soil temperature consistent at 70-85F, with some day/variation in this range. Cool soils will significantly delay seed germination time if not inhibit germination altogether. Standard room temperature can be too cool for proper germination.

The seeds of the yellow passionfruit are however, known to be easy to germinate, though it only germinates when temperatures are ranging from 20-26°C.

Flowering Habit:
Flowering occurs from April-November but may occasionally continue year-round if conditions are right. Individual flowers bloom for just 12-24 hours before closing.


Unlike the purple passionfruit, this variety can self pollinate and will not require a second plant for pollination. 7 out of 10 yellow passionfruit flowers are usually fake flowers, meaning they appear to be just like any other flower, but with a dead ovary. 
These fake flowers feature a small and yellowish Ovary and slightly smaller or deformed flowers. 
3 out of 10 flowers will fruit, and can be determined by checking on the Ovary. Those that fruit usually have bigger ovaries with a green hinge. 
Fake or real flowers can be already determined even before the flower fully opens.

Location: Plant passion fruit vines in full sun except in very hot areas where partial shade is preferable. The vine can be rather rampant, so it is important to plant it next to a chain link fence or install a strong trellis before planting. The plants can also be trained into an attractive arbor.
Soil: Passion fruit vines grow on many soil types but light to heavy sandy loams with a pH of 6.5 to 7.5 are the most suitable. Excellent drainage is absolutely necessary. Also, the soil should be rich in organic matter and low in salts. If the soil is too acid, lime must be applied. Because the vines are shallow-rooted, they will benefit from a thick layer of organic mulch.

Irrigation: Regular watering will keep a vine flowering and fruiting almost continuously. Water requirement is high when fruits are approaching maturity. If the soil is too dry, fruits may shrivel and fall prematurely. Fruits may also shrivel and never ripen in color in cold temperatures, mainly below 10°C, with occasional night time temperatures of 3°C.
Irrigation isn't needed when it is grown in a tropical to subtropical country which receives a lot of rain. 

Fertilization: Passion fruit vines are vigorous growers and require regular fertilizing. A good choice is 10-5-20 NPK applied at the rate of 3 pounds per plant 4 times a year. Too much nitrogen results in vigorous foliage growth at the expense of flowering. Passion fruit vines should always be watched for deficiencies, particularly in potassium and calcium, and of less importance, magnesium. Plants that have been damaged by frost should receive a generous fertilizing after the weather has warmed


Pruning: Pruning is necessary to keep the vines within bounds, to make harvest easier and to keep the plants productive by maintaining vigorous growth. In warm winter climates prune immediately after harvest. In areas with cool winters prune in early spring. As a a general rule remove all weak growth and cut back vigorous growth by at least one third. In very hot climates allow a thick canopy of foliage to grow around the fruit to prevent sunburn.

Passiflora foetida

Passiflora foetida is a perennial herbaceous vine that originates from tropical America, but is now a pantropic weed.Its is part of the Passiflora family, and is now a common weed in many places of the Pacific and Atlantic, where it climbs over low vegetation on roadsides and in other disturbed places. Monitoring and management of this toxic plant is recommended in tropical areas where it is present.

P. foetida Flowers 

Habitat description

P. foetida is an invader on disturbed sites. It favours wet areas but can tolerate arid conditions. It is generally not as invasive as other kinds of tropical invasive weeds, but P.foetida has a potential to gradually cover a field or a fence.
Found mainly in abandoned wastelands.  

Local dispersal methods:

Consumption/excretion: Fruits are consumed by birds, which can rapidly disperse Passiflora foetida seeds. 

Bamboo Orchid

Bamboo Orchid, also known in Binomial name as the Arundina graminifolia, is a species of orchid and the sole of the genus Arundina.
Arundina graminifolia is a native wild orchid in Hong Kong, and are easy to cultivate, requiring half to more or less but never full sunlight.

They grow best in semi-fertile acidic soils.
Wild plants usually grow near streams in elevations of 100-300 meters.

Cleisostoma simondii

Cleisostoma simondii is a species of orchid that grows upon larger trees.
Found from Assam, eastern Himalayas, Nepal, Sikkim, Thailand, Laos, Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan and Yunnan provinces of China, Hong Kong and Vietnam in tropical and subtropical forests at elevations of 400 to 1100 meters.

The plant is erect, terete leafed, small sized, hot to warm growing monopodial epiphyte that is found at elevations of 100 to 1000 meters with an erect stem enveloped completely by imbricating, leaf bearing sheaths and carrying terete, fleshy, linear, subacute to obtuse, sessile, jointed leaves that blooms on an axillary, arching then pendulous, slender, 4 to 11.2" [10 to 28 cm] long, simple to paniculate, several [11 to 20] flowered inflorescence with basal and then iserted at intervals, tubulbar, cylindric, ovate, triangular apically sheaths and lanceolate, subacute floral bracts and carrying small, long-lasting flowers that can occur at any time but most often in the fall and winter.
Cleisostoma simondii is found in northeastern Hong Kong.

A cluster of Cleisostoma simondii orchid plants on a tree in northeastern Hong Kong.

Neomarica northiana

Neomarica northiana, also known as the Walking iris is a flowering plant, native to Brazil, with rhizomatous rootstock of the small genus of Neomarica, related to the large Iris family. 
It is commonly grown in parks for landscaping and ornamental uses.

It flowers in April in Hong Kong, and has even naturalized in Hong Kong. Neomarica northiana grows well in many kinds of soils and grows  best under shady and slightly humid conditions.

Bambusa chungii

Bambusa chungii, commonly known as the White Bamboo or the Tropical Blue Bamboo, is a large, tall bamboo species, often found in Hong Kong, and originating in China. It's blue-green or white culms often reach a height of 10 meters.

The bamboo grove of this species often spreads to 3 metres when mature, sometimes spreading to 5 meters, often growing in company of trees in a humid, half-sunlight environment. Culms which can grow to a maximum height of 20 meters or less are covered in naturally occurring white powder, which are used to waterproof the plant. 

Tolerates wind, rain, dry (with irrigation) and remains beautiful. An outstanding choice to solve those pesky neighbor abatement issues quickly, as it isn't invasive.

Rhododendron simiarum

Rhododendron simiarum also known as the South China Rhododendron, is one of the many species of the genus Rhododendron, which mainly grows in Southern China. The species has also developed a habitat in Hong Kong, being one of the six native species of Rhododendrons to grown in Hong Kong, commonly found in the slopes of Ma On Shan, and Lantau Island


They grow as bushy shrubs to small trees; they typically grow to be 1 to 2 meters, but can be as tall as 3 meters. Rhododendron simiarum's bark is gray in color, exfoliating into thin, small, irregular flakes. Young shoots are densely covered with curled grey hairs, also known as Tomentose but later become hairless. Branchlets, with those more than one year old glabrescent, gray tomentose when young. Flowers bloom from April to early May, having up to 4 to 6 clustered flowers at the top of branches, each funnel-shaped, pink with red spots at first and turn lighter when fully opened, ranging from white to dark pink.

Lepidosperma chinense

Lepidosperma chinense, also known as the Chinese scaleseed sedge, is a plant commonly distributed in Hong Kong, and China.

Habit:

Rhizomes creeping. Culms tufted, erect, 45-90 cm tall, terete to obscurely angular, stiff. Leaves basal; sheath purplish black to blood-red, 3-8 cm, margins membranous; ligule present; leaf blade shorter than culm, 2-3 mm thick, terete, stiff, smooth, glabrous. Involucral bracts spathelike, sheathing, glabrous. Inflorescences paniculate, 3-10 cm. Spikelets densely clustered, fusiform-oblong, 6-8 mm, 1- or 2-flowered. Glumes lanceolate, 4-6.5 mm, scabrous, apex obtuse and mucronate; basal 2 glumes empty, apical 2 with bisexual flowers. Perianth scales 6, whitish, very short, connate at base. Stamens 3; connective apex apiculate. Stigmas 3. Nutlet brownish yellow, ovoid to ellipsoid, 2.5-4 mm, terete, smooth, shiny. Flowering. and fruiting. Jul-Dec.
Hillsides, wet places, riversides, sparse forests along valleys; 800-1500 m. Fujian, Guangdong, E Guangxi, Hainan, S Hunan, S Zhejiang Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam.

Plant World:Acacia

Acacia
Is a Flowering plant genius of fast growing shrubs and tall trees belonging to thesubfamily,Mimosoideae,family,
Fabaceae.The most common known type is the African type,
know as the Bullhorn acacia with large pinnately compound leaves,purple thorns, and a classic shape.But there are many other acacias that have pretty golden yellow flowers, banana like leaves, and Fusilli pasta like fruits!!Many of these Acacias live in Australia.The leaves color ranges form silver,silver blue,light green,greenish yellow, and  dark green.
Acacias with silver colored or silver blue colored leaves contains tiny white hairs that cover the leaf.This hairs may reduce sunlight intake,form the blistering sun,or protect form frost.But some acacias have silver blue leaves without hairs.This is because the plant has release microscopic mineral crystals making the leave look silver in color.   
The generic name derives from ακακία (akakia), the name given by early Greek botanist-physician Pedanius Dioscorides to the medicinal tree A. nilotica in his book Materia Medica.This name derives from the Greek word for its characteristic thorns, ακις (akis, thorn).The species name nilotica was given by Linnaeus from this tree's best-known range along the Nile river.Acacias are also know as thorntrees, whistling wattles or wattles.The tree is evergreen and flowers in spring to summer.The flowers are often round and yellow,but some acacia flowers are rather long, for example,the ear leaf acacia as seen in the following image:

 Ear leaf acacia flowers

   Common acacia flowers:

Acacias then produce greenly blue,to greenly purple fruits that look like beans(Anyway, acacias are related to beans)....

Some Acacias produce curly fruits looking like a Fusilli pasta, such as the Fruits of the Hickory Wattle, also known as the  Big leaf Acacia(Acacia mangium)(See the leafs and tree below the following images)

 Fusilli pasta like seed pods of the Acacia Mangium Fruit

Acacia Mangium seed pods

Acacia Mangium dried fruits

Acacia Mangium dried seed pods

Acacia Mangium seeds

Acacia Mangium Fruit(Light green leaf)

Acacia Mangium Branches

Acacia Mangium 

Acacia Mangium Tree

Acacia Mangium Fruit(fresh)

Acacia Mangium Fruit(fresh)

Small Acacia Mangium trees ready for planting

Strange Looking Type of Acacias Gallery:

Harrow Wattle

Acacia acanthoclad

This Acacia has tiny leaves, Only 1 to 2mm long, to 0.2 to 0.6 Wide,But can Grow up to 2m tall.The Golden flowers flowers at August To October and is found in the wild in  western Australia and Southern Australia.The  Species is threatened due to overgrazing Kangaroos. 

Acacia acanthoclad

Leafless Rock Wattle

Acacia aphylla

Is a Strange succulent-like Acacia with spiny,leafless stems, and grows to between 0.9 and 2.5 metres in height. It produces yellow flowers between August and October (late winter to mid spring) in its native range

Leafless Rock Wattle

Acacia aphylla

Leafless Rock Wattle

Acacia aphylla

Leafless Rock Wattle stem

Acacia aphylla

Winged Wattle stem

Acacia alata

Winged Wattle 

Acacia alata

 Winged Wattle yellow Flowered 

Acacia alata

  Queensland Silver Wattle

Acacia podalyriifolia

This species of Acacia is a perennial tree which is fast-growing and widely cultivated. It is native to Australia but is also naturalised in Malaysia, Africa, India and South America. Its uses include environmental management and it is also used as an ornamental tree. 

Acacia podalyriifolia Tree

Acacia podalyriifolia

Acacia podalyriifolia branch

Other Types of Acacia:

Earleaf Acacia

(Acacia auriculiformis)

Acacia auriculiformis, commonly known as Auri, Earleaf acacia, Earpod wattle, Northern black wattle, Papuan wattle, Tan wattle, is a fast-growing, crooked, gnarly and thorny tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It grows up to 30m tall.It is 

Introduced to Hong Kong as a Shade Tree.

Earleaf Acacia Tree

Earleaf Acacia flowers 

Earleaf Acaica Fruit pods

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