CHAYOTE
Sechium edule (Jacq.) Swartz, family CucurbitaceaeChayote is also called Christophine (Purseglove 1968*), mirliton and tayote (Cook 1901), and trellis squash (Fairchild 1947). It is a cucurbit crop of minor importance, comparable to the gherkin and citron melon (Hawthorn and Pollard 1954*). It is grown in Australia, Guatemala, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and other subtropical countries. Bukasov (1930) reported that chayote was very common in Mexico and Guatemala below 6,600 feet. It has been grown in Louisiana, mainly in home gardens around New Orleans, and there was one small commercial planting in Florida in 1971 (D. O. Wolfenbarger, personal commun., 1971).
Plant:
Chayote is a robust, climbing, or sprawling herbaceous perennial with tuberous roots and with vines up to 12 yards long. It resembles a cucumber but is much more vigorous. It prefers shelter from wind and a place to climb (Whitaker and Davis 1962*). The leaves are strongly three- angled, rough textured, and deep green with white veins. The plant grows best at altitudes above 1,000 feet in the tropics in areas of moderate rainfall, but will grow wherever the soil does not freeze and there is sufficient moisture. The top is killed by frost.
The green, jade, or white ivory fruit is similar in shape and size to the avocado (fig. 69), with a single short-lived seed. The fruit is an excellent substitute for summer squash, the roots are comparable to yams, the young leaves are eaten like spinach, and the shoots are acceptable substitutes for asparagus tips.
Whitaker and Davis (1962*) stated that the cultivars are not clearly separated but are identified largely by the type of fruit such as the cvs. 'Round White', 'Long White', 'Pointed Green', 'Broad Green', or 'Oval Green'. The plant requires day lengths slightly over 12 hours before flowering can begin. For this reason, they do not flower in temperate regions before fall. The fruit reaches full size 30 days after anthesis. The entire fruit, with its single seed, is planted when a new plant is desired. Chayote yields 25 to 100 fruits per plant, averaging 1 pound each.
[gfx] FIGURE 69. - Complete and sectioned chayote fruit.
Inflorescence:
Cook (1901) stated that the l/4 to l/2-inch five-petal pistillate flower is solitary, otherwise it is not different from the more numerous staminate blossoms. The ovary is one-celled with one ovule. Knuth (1908*, p. 454, 458), citing Arcangeli, stated that there are two nectaries in both male and female flowers at the base of each of the five lobes of the corolla, 10 per flower. In the male, these nectaries form small narrow inconspicuous pockets, but in the female flowers they are larger and more conspicuous. The explanation offered was that insect visitors find only nectar in the female flowers, therefore the nectary must be more attractive, whereas both pollen and nectar are found in the male flowers. Cook (1901) reported that the vines swarmed with bees and the plant was a good honey producer. He also stated that, in the United States, fields of chayote were recognized as good bee pasture, seemingly making up in numbers what the flower lacked in size. Pellett (1947*) listed chayote as a valuable honey plant. It blooms continually if not killed by frost. Wulfrath and Speck (n.d.) considered it a wonderful source of nectar.
Pollination Requirements:
Other than that the plant is monoecious, having staminate and pistillate flowers that are insect pollinated, little seems to be known about the pollination of chayote. Because only a single ovary and seed occurs within a flower, repeated visits by bees to a flower may not be necessary. Fairchild (1947) stated that when the flower is fertilized and fruit sets, it grows rapidly to maturity.
Pollinators:
Where honey bees are attracted to the flowers in sufficient numbers, additional steps to provide pollination is unnecessary. If production is on a big scale, there might be more flowers than the local supply of insects could pollinate. Should that occur, some provision for additional bees should be made.
Pollination Recommendations and Practices:
No recommendations for the use of pollinating insects on chayote have been made.
LITERATURE CITED:
ARCANGELI, C.
1892. [SULL'IMP0LLINAZIONE IN VARIE CUCURBITACEE E SUI L0RO NETTARII.] Atti del Congresso Bot. Internaz. 1892, pp.441-454. Genoa. [ In Italian. ]BUKASOV, S. M.
1930. THE CULTIVATED PLANTS OF MEXICO, GUATEMALA, AND COLOMBIA. Bul. Appl. Bot., Genet., and Plant Breeding Sup. 47: 1 - 553. [In Russian, pp. 470 - 553 in English.]COOK, O. F.
1901. THE CHAYOTE: A TROPICAL VEGETABLE U.S. Dept. Agr. Div. Bot. Bul. 28, 31 pp.FAIRCHILD, D.
1947. EARLY EXPERIENCES WITH THE CHAYOTE. Fla. State Hort. Soc. Proc. 60: 172-178.WULFRATH, A., and SPECK, J. J.
[n.d.] [LA FLORA MELIFERA.] Enciclopedia Apicola, Folleto 28. Ed. 2. 96 pp. Ediciones Mexicanas, Mexico, D.F. [In Spanish.]
