Black Calabash 



^Zl 



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

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



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



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



I. CALABASH TREE — Crescentia Cujete Linnaeus 



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 silvery gray. The twigs are 

 stout, somewhat angular, light green be- 

 coming silvery or creamy white. The leaves 

 are evergreen, leathery, clustered at the ends 

 of the twigs, spatulate or oblanceolate, 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 slightly wavy-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 thicl^ 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 poultices and is also used as a 

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

 carved into many kinds of doq;iestic utensils. 





Fig. 761. — Calabash Tree. 



2. BLACK CALABASH — Crescentia latifolia Miller 



Crescentia cucurhitina Linnaeus 



A small evergreen tree of tropical American swamp margins and river banks, 

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



