Calabash -A very own set of dishes in the jungle-

Other names: Beggar´s Bowl

Botanical name: Crescentia cujete (Bignoniaceae)

BEAUTIFUL MEDICINAL TREE OFFERING HOME FOR ORCHIDS AND AN ELEGANT ANSWER TO STORAGE PROBLEMS

The Calabash tree is an exciting and useful tree from Tropical America. Branching out from the lower part of the trunk, the tree grows 10 m (33 ft) tall and the trunk diameter can reach 40 cm (1.3 ft). The wood of the Calabash tree is light brown, soft and flexible. The soft bark provides an excellent growing place for orchids.

THE LOVELY FLOWERS OPEN OUT AT NIGHT – THE FRUITS HAVE ALWAYS PROVIDED DISHES AND CONTAINERS FOR ALL KINDS OF USE

Both the flowers and the fruits are exotically beautiful. Calabash blooms and bears fruit throughout the year. The flowers are a bright, light green, shaped delicately like bells. The flowers grow directly from the trunk or branches and open up at night. The green ball-shaped or oval, smooth fruits have a hard shell and turn brown when ripe. The seeds inside are surrounded by light-colored fruit flesh.

The fruit flesh is used as medicine, but apart from that it is not edible. The fruit shell however has many uses. The Indians have long since used the shells as dishes, cups, dippers, spoons and containers. They use a scoop made of the shell to bail water out of their boats and canoes. The shell is also utilized to make different musical instruments and ornaments.

TREE GIVES POWERFUL MEDICINE FOR JUNGLE PHARMACY

The Calabash tree has some powerful qualities in medical use but the precise dosage has to be known before using the medicine. The fruit flesh is used externally to treat skin diseases and to heal bruises. It’s also used to make cough medicine and to treat asthma. Calabash wood is used to reduce fever and cure earache. Pregnant should not use Calabash as the fruit has been traditionally used to induce labor. Drugs made from the leaves reduce blood pressure.