Cassabanana | Musk Cucumber – Sicana odorifera
Cassabanana, Sicana odorifera, also known as sikana, and musk cucumber is a perennial, herbaceous fruit bearing vine, indigenous to Brazil and tropical South America, producing a impressing 30-60cm long, bright red fruit with a fabulous melon-like smell, and flavor. Cassabanana is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae and the only species of the genus Sicana.
Sicana odorifera is a vigorous vine reaching a length of 15 plus meters. It can climb up trees by means of 4-parted tendrils armed with sticky discs that can hold fast to the smoothest surface. Cassabanana is grown as a decorative plant and also for its sweet edible fruit.
Leaves are large, gray, hairy, palmately lobed, grow to 30 cm in width. Flowers are white or bright yellow, aromatic, urn-shaped, solitary, male flowers 2 cm long, female flowers about 5 cm long.
Cassabanana Fruit
The fruit is large, up to 60 cm long and 7-12cm wide with a stocky skin of variable color. The firm, sweet, aromatic, yellow-to-orange luscious flesh of the mature fruit is consumed raw or made into jams and preserves. The unripe fruit is frequently cooked as a vegetable. The fruit is common in parts of Central and South America.
The flesh carries numerous oval seeds, light-brown in color edged with a dark-brown stripe, in tightly-packed rows running the whole length of the fruit. The fruit stays in good condition for several months if kept dry and out of the sun.
Cassabanana Propagation Methods
Plant propagation is by seed. While Sicana odorifera is a perennial fruiting plant and will grow well in heat and humidity, it could be also grown in cold regions as an annual. Germination takes anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks.
Cassabanana, Sicana odorifera
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