Most Filipinos grew up learning the song “Bahay Kubo” (Nipa Hut) as it’s one of the staples of folk songs taught to children. Remembering all the vegetables mentioned in the lyrics is often given as a trivia challenge especially to adults just to test how well they still know the song. Being able to list all is already an amazing feat.
A more difficult challenge, even for geeks, is knowing the scientific names of each vegetable. I remember kicking off our Taxonomy class with this homework back in college and it was quite a daunting yet fun challenge.
So to help out anyone, call it a public service, I share to you a table of all the vegetables in the song “Bahay Kubo” along with its respective scientific name.
| Filipino name | English name | Scientific name |
| Singkamas | Jicama | Pachyrrizus erosus |
| Talong | Eggplant | Solanum melongena |
| Sigarilyas | Winged bean | Psophocarpus tetragonolobus |
| Mani | Peanut | Arachis hypogaea |
| Sitaw | String beans | Phaseolus vulgaris |
| Bataw | Hyacinth bean | Dolichos lablab |
| Patani | Lima bean | Phaseolus lunatus |
| Kundol | Winter melon | Benincasa hispida |
| Patola | Angled luffa/Chinese okra | Luffa acutangula |
| Upo | Bottle gourd | Lagenaria siceraria |
| Kalabasa | Squash | Cucurbita maxima |
| Labanos | Radish | Raphanus sativus |
| Mustasa | Mustard | Brassica juncea |
| Sibuyas | Onion | Allium cepa |
| Kamatis | Tomato | Lycopersicum esculentum |
| Bawang | Garlic | Allium sativum |
| Luya | Ginger | Zingiber officinale |
| Linga | Sesame seed | Sesamum indicum |
The basic rule for writing a scientific name
- Use both genus and species name: Felis catus.
- Italicize the whole name.
- Capitalize only the genus name. (In the past you would capitalize the species designation if it was derived from a proper name, e.g., Megalonyx Jeffersonii, but now the species designation is always lowercased: Megalonyx jeffersonii.)
Hope this helps!