perennial vine of the gourd family ( Cucurbitaceae), native to the New World tropics and cultivated as an ornamental plant and for its sweet-smelling, edible fruit. The cassabanana vine is fleshy and tall, with many tendrils. It can grow 12.5 metres (40 feet) long, with leaves up to 30 cm (12 inches) across. Both male and female flowers are yellow and borne on the same plant, but the male flowers are smaller. The oblong or cylindrical orange-red fruit may be 60 cm (24 inches) long.

In temperate areas the cassabanana can be cultivated as an annual plant but may not bear flowers or fruit. Another hairy, pumpkinlike gourd, Benincasa hispida (wax gourd), is sometimes called cassabanana. Native to the Malay archipelago, it is eaten as a vegetable and pickled.