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GOURD

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 287 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GOURD , a name given to various See also:

PLANTS

plants of the See also:

order Cucurbilaceae, especially those belonging to the genus Cucurbita, monoecious trailing herbs of See also:

ANNUAL

annual duration, with See also:

long succulent stems furnished with tendrils, and large, rough, palmately-lobed leaves; the See also:

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers are generally large and of a See also:

bright yellow or See also:

orange See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour, the barren ones with the stamens See also:

UNITED

united; the fertile are followed by the' large succulent See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit that gives the gourds their See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief economic value. Many varieties of Cucurbita are under cultivation in tropical and temperate climates, especially in See also:

SOUTHERN

southern See also:

ASIA

Asia; but it is extremely difficult to refer them to definite specific See also:

groups, on See also:

account of the facility with which they hybridize; while it is very doubtful whether any of the See also:

ORIGINAL

original forms now exist in the See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild See also:

state. See also:

Charles Naudin, who made a careful and interesting See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of observations upon this genus, came to the conclusion that all varieties known in See also:

EUROPEAN

European gardens might be referred to six original See also:

SPECIES

species; probably three, or at most four, have furnished the edible kinds in See also:

ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary cultivation. Adopting the specific names usually given to the more See also:

FAMILIAR (through the Fr. familier, from Lat. familiaris, of or belonging to the familia, family)

familiar forms, the most important of the gourds, from an economic point of view, is perhaps C. See also:

MAXIMA

maxima, the Potiron Jaune of the See also:

French, the red and yellow gourd of See also:

BRITISH

British gardeners (fig. 6), the spheroidal fruit of which is remarkable for its enormous See also:

SIZE

size: the colour of the somewhat rough rind varies from See also:

white to bright yellow, while in some kinds it remains See also:

green; the fleshy interior is of a deep yellow or orange tint. This valuable gourd is grown extensively in southern Asia and See also:

EUROPE

Europe. In See also:

TURKEY

Turkey and Asia See also:

Minor it yields, at some periods of the See also:

YEAR

year, an important See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article of See also:

DIET

diet to the See also:

PEOPLE

people; immense quantities are sold in the markets of See also:

Constantinople, where in the See also:

winter the heaps of one variety with a white rind are described as resembling mounds of snowballs. The yellow See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind attains occasionally a See also:

WEIGHT

weight of upwards of 240 lb. It grows well in Central Europe and the United States, while in the See also:

south of See also:

England it will produce its gigantic fruit in perfection in hot summers. The yellow flesh of this gourd and its numerous varieties yields a considerable amount of nutriment, and is the more valuable as the fruit can be kept, even in warm climates, for a long See also:

time. In See also:

France and in the See also:

East it is much used in soups and ragouts, while simply boiled it forms a substitute for other table vegetables; the See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste has been compared to that of a See also:

young See also:

CARROT

carrot. In some countries the larger kinds are employed as See also:

CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle See also:

food.

The seeds yield by expression a large quantity of a bland oil, which is used for the same purposes as that of the See also:

POPPY

poppy and See also:

OLIVE (Olea europaea)

olive. The " See also:

mammoth " gourds of See also:

ENGLISH

English and See also:

AMERICAN

American gardeners (known in See also:

AMERICA

America as squashes) belong to this species. The See also:

PUMPKIN

pumpkin (summer squash of America) is Cucurbita Pepo. Some of the varieties of C. maxima and Pepo contain a considerable quantity of See also:

SUGAR

sugar, amounting in the sweetest kinds to 4 or 5%, and in the hot plains of See also:

Hungary efforts have been made to make use of them as a commercial source of sugar. The young shoots of both these large gourds may be given to cattle, and admit of being eaten as a green See also:

VEGETABLE

vegetable when boiled. The vegetable marrow is a variety (ovifera) of C. Pepo. Many smaller gourds are cultivated in See also:

India and other hot climates, and some have been introduced into English gardens, rather for the beauty of their fruit and foliage than for their esculent qualities. Among these is C. Pepo See also:

var. aurantia, the orange gourd, bearing a spheroidal fruit, like a large orange in See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form and colour; in See also:

BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain it is generally too See also:

BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRANCIS (1867– )

bitter to be palatable, though applied to culinary purposes in Turkey and the See also:

LEVANT

Levant. C. Pepo var. pyriformis and var. verrucosa, the warted gourds, are likewise occasionally eaten, especially in the immature state; and C. moschata (See also:

MUSK (Med. Lat. muscus, late Gr. µbvXos, possibly Pers. mushk, from Sansk. mushka, the scrotum)

musk See also:

MELON (Late Lat. melo, shortened form of Gr. p XoaEawv, a kind of gourd; µijXov, apple, and a- brow, ripe)

melon) is very extensively cultivated throughout India by the natives, the yellow flesh being cooked and eaten.

The See also:

BOTTLE (Fr. bouteille, from a diminutive of the Lat. butta, a flask; cf. Eng. " butt ")

bottle-gourds are placed in a See also:

SEPARATE

separate genus, Lagenaria, chiefly differing See also:

GROUP

Group of Gourds. from Cucurbita in the an-1-5. Various forms of bottle gourd, thers being See also:

FREE

free instead of Lagenaria vulgaris. adherent. The bottle-gourd 6. See also:

GIANT (O.E. geant, through Fr. giant, O.Fr. gaiant, jaiant, jeant, med. pop. Lat. gagante—cf. Ital. gigante—by assimilation from gigantem, ace. of Lat. gigas, Gr. yiyas)

Giant gourd, Cucurbita maxima. properly so-called, L. vul- garis, is a climbing plant with downy, See also:

heart-shaped leaves and beautiful white flowers: the remarkable fruit (See also:

FIGS

figs. 1-5) first begins to grow in the form of an elongated See also:

CYLINDER (Gr. KvAwSpos, from KvXivaety, to roll)

cylinder, but gradually widens towards the extremity, until, when ripe, it resembles a See also:

FLASK

flask with a narrow See also:

NECK (O. Eng. hnecca; the word appears in many Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch ride, Ger. Nacken; in O. E. the common word was heals; cf. Ger. Hals)

neck and large rounded bulb; it sometimes attains a length of 7 ft. When ripe, the pulp is removed from the neck, and the interior cleared by leaving See also:

WATER

water See also:

STANDING

standing in it; the woody rind that remains is used as a bottle: or the See also:

LOWER

lower See also:

PART

part is cut off and cleared out, forming a See also:

basin-like See also:

VESSEL (O. Fr. vaissel, from a rare Lat. vascellum, dim. of vas, vase, urn)

vessel applied to the same domestic purposes as the See also:

CALABASH (from the Span. calabaza, a gourd or pumpkin, possibly derived from the Pers. kharlunza, a melon)

calabash (Crescentia) of the See also:

West Indies: the smaller varieties, divided length-See also:

wise, form spoons. The ripe fruit is See also:

apt to be bitter and cathartic, but while immature it is eaten by the See also:

ARABS

Arabs and See also:

TURKS

Turks. When about the size of a small See also:

CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus, Fr. concombre, O. Fr. coucombre, whence the older English spelling and pronunciation " cowcumber," the standard in England up to the beginning of the 18th century)

cucumber, it is stuffed with See also:

rice and minced See also:

MEAT

meat, flavoured with See also:

pepper, onions, &c., and then boiled, forming a favourite dish with Eastern epicures. The elongated snake-gourds of India and See also:

CHINA

China (Trichosanthes) are used in curries and stews. All the true gourds have a tendency to secrete the cathartic principle colocynthin, and in many varieties of Cucurbita and the allied genera it is often elaborated to such an extent as to render them unwholesome, or even poisonous. The seeds of several species therefore possess some anthelmintic properties; those of the See also:

COMMON

common pumpkin are frequently administered in America as a vermifuge. The cultivation of gourds began far beyond the See also:

DAWN (the 16th-century form of the earlier " Jawing " or " dawning," from an old verb " daw," O. Eng. dagian, to become day; cf. Dutch dagen, and Ger. tagen)

dawn of See also:

HISTORY

history, and the esculent species have become so modified by culture that the original plants from which they have descended can no longer be traced.

The abundance of varieties in India would seem to indicate that part of Asia as the birthplace of the See also:

PRESENT

present edible forms; but some appear to have been cultivated in all the hotter regions of that See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent, and in See also:

North See also:

Africa, from the earliest ages, while the See also:

Romans were familiar with at least certain kinds of Cucurbita, and with the bottle-gourd. Cucurbita Pepo, the source of many of the American forms, is probably a native of that continent. Most of the annual gourds may be grown successfully in Britain. They are usually raised in hotbeds or under frames, and planted out in See also:

rich See also:

SOIL

soil in the See also:

early summer as soon as the nights become warm. The more ornamental kinds may be trained over trellis-See also:

WORK

work, a favourite mode of displaying them in the East; but the situation must be sheltered and sunny. Even Lagenaria will sometimes See also:

pro-duce See also:

FINE

fine fruit when so treated in the southern counties. For an account of these cultivations in England see See also:

paper by Mr J. W. Odell, " Gourds and Cucurbits," in Journ. Royal See also:

HORT, FENTON JOHN ANTHONY (1828–1892)

Hort. See also:

Soc. iodic. 450 (1904).

End of Article: GOURD

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