Crescentia cujete
Species of plant / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the tree. For the unrelated plant sometimes known as calabash, see calabash. For other uses of calabash, see Calabash (disambiguation).
Crescentia cujete, commonly known as the calabash tree, is a species of flowering plant native to the Americas, that is grown in Africa, South-East Asia, Central America, South America, the West Indies and extreme southern Florida.[2] It is the national tree of St. Lucia. It is a dicotyledonous plant with simple leaves, which are alternate or in fascicles (clusters) on short shoots.[3] It is naturalized in India.[4] The tree shares its common name with that of the vine calabash, or bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria).[2]
Quick Facts Crescentia cujete, Conservation status ...
Crescentia cujete | |
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Fruiting branches, and showing bowl made of the hard rind of a fruit of that tree (Koutiala District, Mali, September 2014) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Lamiales |
Family: | Bignoniaceae |
Genus: | Crescentia |
Species: | C. cujete |
Binomial name | |
Crescentia cujete | |
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In Cuba, this tree is known to grow in both disturbed habitat and areas of poor drainage. It can grow up to 10 meters tall.[5]