Chayote
Fun Facts
Plant Family: Cucurbitaceae
Botanical Name: Sicyos edulis (previously, Sechium edule)
Botanical Origin: Mesoamerica (southern Mexico and Guatemala)
Common Names: Chayote (Spanish-speaking regions and international usage), Sayote (Philippines), Choko (Australia and New Zealand), Christophine (French Caribbean and parts of the United Kingdom), Mirliton (Louisiana and Haiti), and Vegetable Pear (English-speaking regions)
Edible Parts: The fruits are the most commonly consumed part of the plant and are typically cooked much like squash, though they can also be eaten raw in salads and salsas or marinated with citrus juice. The leaves, shoots, flowers, roots(tubers), and seed are also edible.
“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…
