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Gourd
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds have large, bulbous bodies and long necks, such as Dipper Gourds, many variations of Bottle Gourd and caveman club gourds. One of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, '' Lagenaria siceraria'', have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC. Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, and food. Terminology ''Gourd'' is occasionally used to describe crop plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, like pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, luffa, and melons. More specifically, ''gourd'' refers to the fruits of plants in the two Cucurbitaceae genera '' Lagenaria'' and '' Cucurbita'', or also to their hollow, dried-ou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gourds - Grown In The Garden
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds have large, bulbous bodies and long necks, such as Dipper Gourds, many variations of Bottle Gourd and caveman club gourds. One of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, '' Lagenaria siceraria'', have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC. Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, and food. Terminology ''Gourd'' is occasionally used to describe crop plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, like pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, luffa, and melons. More specifically, ''gourd'' refers to the fruits of plants in the two Cucurbitaceae genera ''Lagenaria'' and ''Cucurbita'', or also to their hollow, dried-out shell. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cucurbita
is a genus of herbaceous fruits in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae (also known as ''cucurbits'' or ''cucurbi''), native to the Andes and Mesoamerica. Five edible species are grown and consumed for their flesh and seeds. They are variously known as squash, pumpkin, or gourd, depending on species, variety, and local parlance. Other kinds of gourd, also called bottle-gourds, are native to Africa and belong to the genus ''Lagenaria'', which is in the same family and subfamily as ''Cucurbita'', but in a different tribe; their young fruits are eaten much like those of the ''Cucurbita'' species. Most ''Cucurbita'' species are herbaceous vines that grow several meters in length and have tendrils, but non-vining "bush" cultivars of ''C. pepo'' and ''C. maxima'' have also been developed. The yellow or orange flowers on a ''Cucurbita'' plant are of two types: female and male. The female flowers produce the fruit and the male flowers produce pollen. Many North and Central Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calabash
Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, New Guinea butter bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed as a vegetable, or harvested mature to be dried and used as a utensil, container, or a musical instrument. When it is fresh, the fruit has a light green smooth skin and white flesh. Calabash fruits have a variety of shapes: they can be huge and rounded, small and bottle-shaped, or slim and serpentine, and they can grow to be over a metre long. Rounder varieties are typically called calabash gourds. The gourd was one of the world's first cultivated plants grown not primarily for food, but for use as containers. The bottle gourd may have been carried from Asia to Africa, Europe, and the Americas in the course of human migration, or by seeds floating across the oceans inside the gourd. It has been proven to have been g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wax Gourd
''Benincasa hispida'', the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, winter melon, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, Chinese preserving melon, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature. It is native to South and Southeast Asia. The wax gourd is widely grown throughout Asia, including Java and Japan, the places where it is thought to have originated. One variety of the plant, called ''chi qua'' (''Benincasa hispida'' var. ''chieh-qua''), is commonly used in Asian cuisine. Etymology The name "winter melon" that is sometimes given to this plant is based on the Chinese name (); however, the character () can also mean "gourd" or "squash". It is likely that the name "melon" is given because this gourd is sometimes candied or made into a sweet tea. The name "wax gourd" comes from the wax coating in the fruit's skin. Description The plant grows thick vines with coarse and hairy stems. It has large, rough leaves with a width bet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luffa
''Luffa'' is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the pumpkin, squash and gourd family (Cucurbitaceae). In everyday non-technical usage, the luffa, also spelled loofah or less frequently loofa, usually refers to the fruits of the species '' Luffa aegyptiaca'' and '' Luffa acutangula''. It is cultivated and eaten as a vegetable, but must be harvested at a young stage of development to be edible. The vegetable is popular in India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Vietnam. When the fruit fully ripens, it becomes too fibrous for eating. The fully developed fruit is the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge. Names The name ''luffa'' was taken by European botanists in the 17th century from the Arabic name ''lūf''.The plant name "luffa" was introduced to Western botany nomenclature by the botanist Johann Vesling (died 1649), who visited Egypt in the late–1620s and described the plant under cultivation with artificial irrigation in Egypt. In 1706 the botanist Joseph P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snake Gourd
''Trichosanthes cucumerina'' is a tropical or subtropical vine. Its variety ''T. cucumerina'' var. ''anguina'' raised for its strikingly long fruit. In Asia, it is eaten immature as a vegetable much like the summer squash and in Africa, the reddish pulp of mature snake gourd is used as an economical substitute for tomato. Common names for the cultivated variety include snake gourd, serpent gourd, chichinda padwal and Snake Tomato. ''Trichosanthes cucumerina'' is found in the wild across much of South and Southeast Asia, including India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar(Burma) and southern China (Guangxi and Yunnan). It is also regarded as native in northern Australia. and naturalized in Florida, parts of Africa and on various islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Formerly, the cultivated form was considered a distinct species, ''T. anguina'', but it is now generally regarded as conspecific with the wild populations, as they freely interb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pumpkin
A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many different squashes of varied appearance and belonging to multiple species in the ''Cucurbita'' genus. The use of the word "pumpkin" is thought to have originated in New England in North America, derived from a word for melon, or a native word for round. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with "Cucurbita, squash" or "winter squash", and is commonly used for some cultivars of ''Cucurbita argyrosperma'', ''Cucurbita ficifolia'', ''Cucurbita maxima'', ''Cucurbita moschata'', and ''Cucurbita pepo''. ''C. pepo'' pumpkins are among the oldest known domesticated plants, with evidence of their cultivation dating to between 7000 BCE and 5500 BCE. Wild species of ''Cucurbita'' and the earliest domesticated species are native to North America (p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malabar Gourd
''Cucurbita ficifolia'' is a species of squash, grown for its edible seeds, fruit, and greens. It has common names including black seed squash, chilacayote, cidra, fig-leaf gourd, and Malabar gourd. Compared to other domesticated species in its genus, investigators have noted that samples of ''C. ficifolia'' from throughout its range are relatively similar to one other in morphology and genetic composition. Variations do occur in fruit and seed color, some isozymes, and photoperiod sensitivity. This species is grown widely from Argentina and Chile to Mexico. It is also cultivated in regions of the world including India, Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Angola. No named agricultural cultivars have been recognized. Research suggests that ''C. ficifolia'' represents an earlier evolutionary branch than the other major cultivated ''Cucurbita'' species, but biosystematic investigations have established that ''C. ficifolia'' is not as distinc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hedgehog Gourd
''Cucumis dipsaceus'', also known as Arabian cucumber or hedgehog cucumber, is an annual climbing herb that can be found in tropical and arid locations. The plant is native to eastern Africa, first found in Sudan, southern Egypt, and Ethiopia. The developed fruits of the plant change from green to yellow and contain many seeds. The hairs that cover the oblong fruits nickname this species the “hedgehog cucumber”. ''C. dipsaceus'' has several usages, as fodder, medicine, and human consumption. The cucumber is normally collected in the wild, but has also been domesticated. The young shoots and leaves of the plant are traditionally cooked with groundnut paste, and with coconut milk when available. The fruit of the plant is used medicinally as an analgesic. ''C. dipsaceus'' has become invasive all across the Americas. This includes islands in Hawaii, several states in the U.S. and islands in South America as well. There are no known methods of control. Distribution ''Cucumis dip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
