Chayote
Fun Facts
Plant Family: Cucurbitaceae
Botanical Name: Sicyos edulis (previously, Sechium edule)
Botanical Origin: Mesoamerica (southern Mexico and Guatemala)
Common Names: Christophine (Eastern Caribbean, United Kingdom, Ireland), Choko (Australia, New Zealand, Singapore), Mirliton (Louisiana and Haiti), vegetable pear
Edible Parts: Fruits, Leaves, Shoots, Flowers, Roots (tuberous)
“What has leaves like spinach, shoots like asparagus, fruit reminiscent of summer squash, large nutty seeds, and potato-like tubers?”
Unusual Vegetables: Something new for this year's garden, 1978
Chayote is a vigorous vining plant that produces ample pear-shaped fruit late in the growing season. The challenge with chayote is that flowering is triggered by daylength, and some varieties won’t produce at our latitude until freezing weather has already killed the plants…
