Rabin Giri

Dharan, May 6:

Wild pumpkin has been found for the first time in Nepal. Lecturer in the biology faculty of the Central Campus of Technology, Dharan Kamal Maden, claimed that he has found a few pumpkins in the wild near a pond in a place called ‘Raja Rani’ in the Morang district’s Bhogateni VDC.

Though the wild pumpkin has the same look with even similar kinds of leaves as in the ordinary one, it turns more yellow after it gets ripe, Maden said.

The seed is however different from that of the ordinary pumpkin.

According to Maden, the seed is shaped like a three angular coin (Tinpate) and its colour is like the clarified butter. Local villagers call it the ‘ghee fruit’.

“Wild pumpkin is not yet listed among the biological plants found in Nepal. So, this should be considered as a new addition to the list of plants found in Nepal,” informed Maden to The Himalayan Times. This is also a new species among pumpkins found in Nepal, Maden said.

According to the ‘flora of Bhutan’ published by the world famous biological study institution, Royal Botanical Garden, England, wild pumpkin was earlier found in Bhutan. It is also found in Sikkim, north Bengal and Assam in India as well as in Malaysia, the record states.