Gourd

This article refers to the dried fruit shell. For the alternative country musical group of a similar name, see The Gourds.

A gourd is a hollow, dried shell of a fruit in the Cucurbitaceae family of plants of the genus Lagenaria^[1][2]. Gourds can be used as a number of things, including bowls or bottles. Gourds are also used as resonating chambers on certain musical instruments including the berimbau and many other stringed instruments and drums. Instruments of this type are fairly common to the Caribbean. Gourds are also used as a tool for sipping yerba mate by means of a bombilla, in Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, where it is called "cuia" (kOOya). Birdhouse gourds, (Lagenaria siceraria), are commonly used in southern USA for group housing for purple martins, which reputedly help control mosquitoes. "Gourd" can also refer to the live fruit before it is dried, or to the entire plant that produces that fruit.

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Cultivation

Day-blooming gourds are pollinated the same as squash, and commercial plantings should have bee hives supplied. Night blooming gourds are pollinated by moths, which are normally present in adequate supply unless they are drawn off by night lights in the area.

Gourds were the earliest plant species domesticated by humans and were originally used by man as containers or vessels before clay or stone pottery, and is sometimes referred to as "nature's pottery". The original and evolutional shape of clay pottery is thought to have been modeled on the shape of certain gourd varieties.

Notable gourd collectors include Bob Jones

Other uses

In addition to utilitarian uses, gourds have been assigned various other functions throughout history in various cultures. Very early specimens of squash shells discovered (for example, in Peru) indicate the use of squashes as means of recording events of the time. In North America, the carving of pumpkins and some other squashes into Jack-o-Lanterns is a popular cultural activity during Halloween.

Generally, gourds are used more for utilitarian uses than for food. Only a few varieties are actually harvested for consumption, mostly in Asia. The shell of the gourd, when dried, has a wooden appearance. Gourd "wood" is essentially cellulose that has no grain, varying in thickness from paper-thin to well over an inch. Drying gourds, which takes months in some cases, causes the internal contents (seeds and fruit matter) to dry out completely, although seeds are often still capable of germination. For the uninitiated, cutting open a dried gourd (which can be done with a craft knife or miniature jig-saw) can present hazards; the resulting dust is extremely fine and can cause respiratory problems, requiring adequate protection. A bitter taste or smell is typically evident when opening a gourd that has not completely dried out inside.

It has also been found that gourd skins were used to replace missing parts of skulls back in the Neolithic times as part of primitive surgery. This is seen as evidence of prostheses, that is, artificial bones made of very fine gold sheet and gourd skins, which were inserted in the skull under the skin or to cover the hole left by the operation.^{[citation needed]}

The harder outer surface lends the gourd to a wide variety of creative appeals, including carving, pyrography, sculpture, basketry, masks, musical instruments, and much more. A steadily growing following has emerged in the United States and other Western countries for Gourd art and craft-related purposes. There are many different types of decorative gourds. They include spoon gourds, spoon bicolor, orange warted, and striped pear. The spoon gourd ripens from the top to the bottom. A baby spoon gourd is green and as it grows it changes color. A yellow color overlaps the green and creates a two colored gourd. For decorative purposes the harvester can cut the gourd from the plant early when it is still two colors.

See also

• Follow the Drinkin' Gourd
• Bitter gourd
• Bottle gourd
• Ivy gourd
• Gourd art
• Guiro
• Koteka
• Maraca
• Pointed gourd
• Ridge gourd
• Sitar
• Snake gourd
• Mate
• Collins Long gourd for competition

Sculpture

• Gourd Art by Jennifer Zingg
• Gourd Fine Art by Denise Williams

Crafts

• World of Gourds, noncommercial site linking to all gourd sites
• Corona Gourd Company - Artistic Gourds
• The Gourd Of Eden- Gourd Fine Art
• Hand painted Gourds artworks
• Clean, Dried Gourds for Crafts
• The American Gourd Society
• California Gourds, dried gourds & supplies for crafts
• The Gourdzette, more gourd craft information & projects
• The Kentucky Gourd Society
• Meadowbrooke Gourds, a nation-wide Gourd Craft supplier
• Gallery of over 20 gourd varieties, large supplier of dried gourds for crafts
• Craft Ready Gourds, Cleaned and Prepped Gourds for Crafting, Crafted Gourds
• Primitive Originals, national Gourd Craft supplies
• Turkish Gourd Lamp, Artist=Nurettin Taskaya
• The Washington State Gourd Society
• Custom crafted gourds by Ozzy