Steve Conaway
| Special to the Telegram & Gazette USA TODAY NETWORK
This is the season when autumnal displays surround us. Decorative gourds seem to appear overnight, as if beamed down from an alien spacecraft: striped, speckled, warted, and winged. Bright bursts of orange, yellow, and green fill grocery stores, farmstands, and porches. The novelty and diversity of gourds are a seasonal delight but consider also their deep evolutionary and cultural roots. What many see as quirky ornaments are deeply tied to the traditional craft and daily survival of people around the world.
The gourd’s remarkable plasticity, its ability to take on wildly different shapes, colors, and textures, mirrors its historical importance. Across continents and centuries, gourds have been tools, food, and art, adapting as humans adapted. As one of the first plants cultivated by humans, the humble gourd has carried water, held grain, and nourished generations. It is, quite literally, one of humanity’s earliest containers, a plant that bridged the worlds of nature and culture.
Botanically speaking, gourd fruits are classified as “pepos,” modified berries with a hard rind and fleshy interior that form at the base of the flower. From pumpkins to cucumbers, watermelons to ornamental gourds, this clever construction protects developing seeds and allows the fruit to mature into a durable, multipurpose form.
All gourds, whether ornamental, edible, or utilitarian, belong to the cucumber and melon family, Cucurbitaceae. Most members of the family are broad-leaved, vining plants, with some fascinating exceptions. The silver-dollar vine (Xerosicyos danguyi) from Madagascar has plump, succulent leaves reminiscent of a jade plant. The rare cucumber tree (Dendrosicyos socotranus) endemic to a single arid island in the Indian ocean sits atop a short bulbous trunk.
Another interesting group are the loofah gourds. The smooth loofah (Luffa aegyptiaca) can be eaten young and tender as a vegetable but is more commonly left to mature until its fibrous interior hardens into the familiar loofah sponge that hangs in showers and scrubs kitchen counters.
Common squash and pumpkins from the botanical genus Cucurbita are prized for delicious flavors and striking beauty. Many colorful ornamental gourds are varieties of the shape-shifting species Cucurbita pepo which includes everything from pumpkins to zucchini. Cucurbita maxima and other species make up a variety of squashes that contribute to the dazzling diversity you see in farmstands this time of year.
And then there is the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), nature’s original container. Before pottery, tin, or glass, the bottle gourd allowed humans to carry water and store grain. It was the first lunchbox and first canteen. Even today, its curved silhouette feels inherently useful as it ripens on the vine. An hourglass-shaped bottle gourd lends itself to carrying by lashing a simple string, while long-necked gourds can be transformed into a ladle or other utensil with minor modification.
Bottle gourds must be fully ripe and then cured in order to be used as a vessel. Curing the gourd is achieved by gradual evaporation over several months. During this process, the thin outer skin of the gourd dries and hardens. When the seeds rattle inside, the gourd is preserved and can be shaped like soft wood. Soaking and abrasives remove the papery outermost skin revealing a smooth glossy finish.
Bottle gourds serve as the base for musical instruments around the world. After being hollowed they amplify and reverberate sound from strings and woodwinds. They are adapted into hand drums and rattles that are essential to music and dances at the heart of long-held cultural traditions.
These gourds are also widely used as artistic canvases. Folk artists in Nigeria have a tradition of painting and staining gourds with natural dyes and etching elaborate geometric patterns and nature scenes. Pacific islanders have utilized gourds as ceremonial clothing and masks. Gourd art is an ancient craft in the Americas with archeological evidence of decorated gourds in Peru dating back thousands of years. Traditional and contemporary indigenous artists in North America create art from gourds with carving, painting, and pyrography.
In the end, the gourd is both practical and poetic, from carrying water across a desert landscape to a whimsical table setting. Whether polished into a bowl, strung into a rattle, or simply admired for its outlandish beauty, the gourd is a symbol of people and nature’s partnership through diversity and inventiveness.
This season, raise a gourd, and toast — among other things — the oldest vessel of all!
Gardening Central Mass. offers ecologically focused tips and helpful stories for home gardeners from New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill CEO Grace Elton and Director of Horticulture Steven Conaway. Located in Boylston, New England Botanic Garden creates experiences with plants that inspire people and improve the world. Learn more at nebg.org. The column is published on the third Sunday of the month.
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