What are calabashes used for?

For over ten thousand years, people have used the calabash (known also as the bottle gourd and formally as Lagenaria siceraria) in all sorts of ways. They’ve eaten it as food. They’ve used it as fishing floats, as pontoons for river rafts, as goblets, as pipe stems. And around the world, people make music with it.

What are calabashes made of?

Calabash is the term used for artefacts made from the hard shell of a fruit in the gourd family “Lagenaria siceraria.” Once the calabash is dried and hollowed out it can be used for serving or storing food. It can also be used as an inkpot, cosmetic container and by market women as a money box.

Where are calabashes grown?

calabash tree, (Crescentia cujete), tree of the family Bignoniaceae that grows in parts of Africa, Central and South America, the West Indies, and extreme southern Florida. It is often grown as an ornamental; however, it is also used in traditional systems of medicine.

How old is the calabash?

siceraria being independently brought under domestication first in Asia, and more than 4,000 years later, in Africa. The bottle gourd is a commonly cultivated plant in tropical and subtropical areas of the world, and was eventually domesticated in southern Africa.

Are calabashes edible?

Calabash tree facts make clear that the fruits are not edible to humans but they are used for a variety of ornamental purposes. For example, the shells are used to make musical instruments. Horses, however, are said to crack open the hard shells. They eat the fruit without detrimental effect.

Why is the word sayong associated to these calabashes?

The ‘tanah busut’ used to make the calabashes is found only around the riverbanks and paddy fields of Sayong. as there are other areas in Perak involved in the making of calabashes, the word ‘sayong’ was added to distinguish these calabashes form sayong.

Where does bottle gourd grow?

bottle gourd, (Lagenaria siceraria), also called white-flowered gourd or calabash gourd, running or climbing vine of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to tropical Africa but cultivated in warm climates around the world for its ornamental and useful hard-shelled fruits.

Can you eat calabash?

What is the scientific name for bottle gourd?

Lagenaria sicerariaCalabash / Scientific name

bottle gourd, (Lagenaria siceraria), also called white-flowered gourd or calabash gourd, running or climbing vine of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to tropical Africa but cultivated in warm climates around the world for its ornamental and useful hard-shelled fruits.

Is calabash a fruit?

The calabash tree is a tropical American tree (Crescentia cujete) with a large melon-like fruit, also called calabash, and the word is also used to refer in general to a gourd or the shell of the calabash fruit, used, for example, as a vessel or tobacco pipe.

Does calabash grow on tree?

Calabash Tree Facts – How To Grow A Calabash Tree. The calabash tree (Crescentia cujete) is a small evergreen that grows up to 25 feet (7.6 m.) tall and produces unusual flowers and fruits. The flowers are greenish yellow with red veins, while the fruit – large, round and hard – hang directly beneath the branches.

What does calabash mean in Nigeria?

The calabash is simply the dried hollow shell of a gourd used for household utensils. Calabash is a versatile fruit of a creeping/climbing plant which grows easily in almost every part of Nigeria. It produces fruits which are regular in shape. It is in many sizes which determines its uses. Calabashes are mostly round.