Black Calabash 



837 



The name is in commemoration of Pietro de Crcsccnzi (i 233-1320), an Italian 

 agricultural author. The 2 species found in our area are: 



Leaves oblanceolatc to spatulate; fruit over 12 cm. long, shell very hard. i. C. Cujele. 



Leaves oblong to obovate-oblong; fruit under 12 cm. long, shell not very hard. 2. C. latijoHa. 



I. CALABASH TREE Crescentia Cujete LinncTus 



This interesting tree is occasionally met with in sandy soil on the Florida Keys; 

 it is a native of the West Indies and is also 

 planted in all tropical American countries. 

 Its maximum height is 10 meters, with a 

 trunk diameter of 2 dm. 



The branches are long, wand-like and 

 Httle divided, forming a very open, irregu- 

 lar head. The bark is about 6 mm. thick, 

 close and sih'ciy gray. The twigs are 

 stout, somewhat angular, light green be- 

 coming silveiT or creamy white. The leaves 

 are evergreen, leather}-, clustered at the ends 

 of the twigs, spatulate or oblanceolatc, 0.5 

 to 1.5 dm. long, rounded and abruptly 

 taper-pointed at the apex, gradually nar- 

 rowed to the short, stout, winged leaf-stalk, 

 sometimes shghtly wa\y-margined, bright 

 green above, paler and smooth with promi- 

 nent veins beneath. The flowers are on 

 short, stout pedicels; the calyx is thick and 

 broad, 2 to 2.5 cm. long, its lobes blunt, a 

 little longer than broad; the corolla is yellowish marked with purple, short-tubular, 

 5 to 6 cm. long, the lobes crisp, usually sharp-pointed and much shorter than the 

 tube; the fruit is subglobose or oval, 1.5 to 3 dm. in diameter, the rind very hard, 

 its pulp thick and filled with many seeds. 



The wood is rather soft, close-grained and flexible; it is sparingly used for 

 saddles, chairs and other furniture. The juice of the unripe fruit is used as a 

 purgative; the pulp of the ripe fruit is made into ])oultices and is also used as a 

 remedy for coughs, but the most useful portion is the hard rind wliich is cut and 

 carved into manv kinds of domestic utensils. 



Fig. 7t)i. 



Calabash Tree. 



2. BLACK CALABASH Crescentia latifolia Miller 

 Crescentia cuciirhitina Linnaeus 



A small evergreen tree of trcpical American swamp margins and ri\cr banks, 

 from Florida through the West Indies, to southern Mexico and Central America, 



