Editing Luffa (section)

==Names==
The name ''luffa'' was taken by European botanists in the 17th century from the [[Arabic]] name {{lang|arz|لوف}} ''lūf''.<ref name="OriginOfNomenclature">The plant name "luffa" was introduced to Western botany nomenclature by the botanist [[Johann Vesling]] (died 1649), who visited [[Egypt]] in the late–1620s and described the plant under cultivation with artificial irrigation in Egypt. In 1706 the botanist [[Joseph Pitton de Tournefort]] introduced the formal botany genus name "Luffa". Tournefort referred to Veslingius's earlier description and reiterated that "Luffa Arabum" is a plant from Egypt in the cucumber family. In establishing the genus ''Luffa'', Tournefort identified just one member species and called it "Luffa Arabum". His 1706 article includes detailed drawings of this species (which is now called ''Luffa aegyptiaca''). The species is native to tropical Asia but has been under cultivation in Egypt since late medieval times. The botanist [[Peter Forsskål]] visited Egypt in the early–1760s and noted that it was called {{lang|ar|ليف}} ''lūf'' in Arabic. In the 18th century the botanist [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] adopted the name ''luffa'' for this species but assigned it to the genus ''[[Momordica]]'', and did not use a separate genus ''Luffa''. More refs on ''Luffa'' in 18th century botanical nomenclature: [https://books.google.com/books?id=iVsLAAAAIAAJ&dq=Tournefort+luffa&pg=PA377 "A commentary on Loureiro's "Flora Cochinchinensis" "], by E.D. Merrill, year 1935, in ''Transactions of American Philosophical Society'' volume 24 part 2, pp 377-378. [http://portail.atilf.fr/cgi-bin/getobject_?p.69:116./var/artfla/encyclopedie/textdata/IMAGE/ ''Luffa'' @ ATILF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017051352/http://portail.atilf.fr/cgi-bin/getobject_?p.69%3A116.%2Fvar%2Fartfla%2Fencyclopedie%2Ftextdata%2FIMAGE%2F |date=2013-10-17 }} and [https://archive.org/stream/histoiredelacad06laca#page/83/mode/1up "''Suite de l'Etablissement de Quelques Nouveaux Genres de Plantes''"], by J.P. de Tournefort (1706) in ''Mémoires de l'Academe Royale des Sciences année 1706''.</ref>

In [[North America]] it is sometimes known as "Chinese [[okra]]",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Turiano |first=John Bruno |date=2014-03-26 |title=What the Heck Is Chinese Okra? A Guide to the Vegetable |url=https://westchestermagazine.com/food/what-the-heck-is-chinese-okra/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=Westchester Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> and in Spanish as ''estropajo''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luffa aegyptiaca - ficha informativa |url=http://www.conabio.gob.mx/malezasdemexico/cucurbitaceae/luffa-aegyptiaca/fichas/ficha.htm |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=www.conabio.gob.mx}}</ref>