Plant · P-1143

Chayote

Sechium edule

Chayote is a fast-growing perennial vine of the tropics and subtropics grown for its pear-shaped fruit, eaten cooked much like summer squash, along with edible young leaves, shoots and an underground tuber. A single plant can bear for months once established, climbing rapidly over a trellis or fence from a swollen rootstock. It needs a long, frost-free growing season and warm temperatures to set fruit, since cool weather damages young fruit and frost kills the plant outright.