Lagenaria
Read about Lagenaria in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Lagenaria (Latin, lagena, a bottle). Cucurbitaceae. Gourd. Calabash Gourd (the true calabash is Crescentia). Probably one species, although several specific names have been given to the various forms: a tender tendril-vine, producing hard-shelled fruits in very many forms that are used for ornament and in the making of utensils; and the rampant vine makes a good temporary screen or cover.Plant musk-scented, with a sticky feeling, monoecious or dioecious: fls. solitary, white, funnelform, very soft in texture, withering in the sun; staminate fls. on very long, slender stalks (usually exceeding the lf.); pistillate fls. mostly short-stalked, with three 2-lobed stigmas and hairy ovary: tendrils forked, long and slender: st. striate-grooved, soft-hairy: lvs. large, soft-pubescent, cordate-ovate or reniform-ovate, sometimes angled, the edges obscurely apiculate-sinuate, on prominent or long petioles. L. leucantha, Rusby (Cucurbita Lagenaria, Linn. C. leucantha. Duch. L. vulgaris, Ser.), is widely grown in tropical countries and is often spontaneous; probably native in Trop. Afr. and Asia. To this species belong the gourds known in this country as Hercules' club, sugar-trough, dipper, snake, calabash, bottle, miniature bottle, depressa, and others: see Gourd. Vol. III. In some countries, the young fr. is said to be eaten as we eat summer squash.Lagenaria is a tender annual, which should receive the culture of squashes. The season in the northern states and Ont. is often too short for the full maturity of the frs., particularly if seeds have been brought from the S. Give a quick warm soil and sunny exposure. In the N., seeds may be started inside in pots, or on inverted sods, after the manner of cucumbers. The lagenarias are rampant growers, often running 30-40 ft., and covering the ground or a fence with a dense mass of large, roundish, soft lvs. It is exceedingly variable in its fr., and has received many species-names as L. microcarpa, R.H. 1855:61; L. clavata; L. pyrotheca, R.B. 23, p. 198; L. virginalis, white-fruited, G.C. III. 11:85; var. longissima, Gt. 48, p. 159; L. verrucosa, Hort., with ball-shaped very warty fr.. Gt. 39 (1890), p. 106. L. verrucosa var. Giordaniana, Hort., is a form with warty pear-shaped fr. The hard shells of the frs. are used for drinking-cups, water-jugs, and many domestic utensils. From the pear-shaped shell of a small-fruited form the Paraguayans drink their famous mate, or Ilex tea. Some of the commonest forms are shown in Fig. 2059. The long curved forms are often called snake gourds in this country (not to be confounded with snake cucumber, which is a Cucumis). These are sometimes several feet long. The form with a constricted middle is the bottle gourd. The grooved musical instrument in Spanish Amer. known as guira, guichara or caracho, is made from the gourds (marimbo) of this plant. The South African calabash pipes are derived from this plant and not from Crescentia.
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 The Calabash (L. siceraria) belongs to the Lagenaria genus. | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Lagenaria abyssinica Lagenaria breviflora |
Lagenaria is a genus of gourd bearing vines from the family Cucurbitaceae, also known as the "Squash" family. It contains at least seven species, one of which is known as the Calabash (Lagenaria siceraria). Its species fruit can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable or harvested mature, dried, and used as a bottle or utensil.
