sicana

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A genus of tropical American plants of the family Cucurbitaceæ, differing from Cucurbita in not having the anthers united and having the calyxlobes reflexed or wide-spreading. The genus has recently come into prominence in this country by the advertising of the cassabanana, S. odorifera. This is a tall, herbaceous, perennial tendril-climber, which produces large fruits like a vegetable marrow. It is grown for ornament and screens. It is tender in the North.