🌹⁷☆•⁵ Bottle Gourd, Lauki (Lagenaria siceraria) in Gourd Family (Cucurbitaceae)

▪︎ (Lagenaria siceraria) Bottle Gourd, Lauki in Gourd Family (Cucurbitaceae) is probably native to Africa.

Lagena means 'flask' or 'bottle' refers to fruit. Siceraria probably refers to fruit, which is useful when it is dry & mature (siccus).

Hardshell Gourd, Bottle Gourd, Bitter Calbash Gourd, Kaippan chura • Hindi: लौकी Lauki • Manipuri: ꯈꯣꯡꯗ꯭ꯔꯨꯝ খোঙদ্ৰুম Khongdrum • Marathi: दूधी Dudhi • Tamil: சுரைக்காய் Surakkai • Malayalam: Pechura • Telugu: Sorakkaya • Kannada: Sorekayi • Bengali: Ladu • Urdu: Lauki • Gujarati: Tumada • Sanskrit: Tiktalabu • Mizo: Um, Um-ei

Has been domesticated since ancient times in a number of semi-tropical to tropical areas around globe. Mature fruits appear in variety of different shapes including rounded, dumbbell-shaped, bottle-shaped or crookneck-shaped.

Rounded fruits Vines- Calabash Gourd.
More cylindrical fruits Vines - Bottle Gourd.

Vines may be grown trailing along ground, along fences or on strong trellises or other upright supports.

Each vine will typically grow to 10-16' long clad with large, hairy, broad-ovate, entire to shallowly-lobed, dark green leaves (to 12" by 12") with two-branched tendrils & night-blooming, trumpet-shaped, White summer flowers (pale yellow bases).

Fruit (a pepo to 3' long) has a smooth, light green skin when young, but matures to yellow or light brown. Many gourds are edible (like zucchini) when young, but some varieties are bitter & inedible.

Inner white pulp dries when fruits mature, leaving a hard shell with very little else inside except seeds. Hard shells of mature fruits are waterproof & they can be dried & used for a variety of different non-food purposes including containers (water jugs, planters, cups, bowls), floats (fish nets), smoking pipes, musical instruments or ornamental decoration (native artifacts).

Not to be confused with

▪︎ (Crescentia cujete) Calabash Tree in Bignonias or Trumpet Vines (Bignoniaceae) native to the Americas, that is grown in Africa, South-East Asia, Central America, South America, West Indies and extreme southern Florida. It is National tree of St. Lucia. Simple leaves, which are alternate or in fascicles (clusters) on short shoots. It is naturalized in India. Tree shares its common name with that of Vine Calabash or Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria).
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🌹 Clade Superrosids (104869), 4173 Genera
¹⁸☆ Order Saxifragales (3279), 126
♤ Clade Rosids (101590), 4047
○ ¹⁷☆ Order Vitales (1019), 20
○ ♤ Clade Eurosids (100571), 4027
● ♤ Clade Fabids (65273), 2251
● ♤ Clade Malvids (35298), 1776

♤ Clade Fabids (65273), 2251 Genera
¹☆ Order Zygophyllales (301), 27
²☆ Order Celastrales (1328), 101
³☆ Order Oxalidales (2040), 59
⁴☆ Order Malpighiales (19557), 783
⁵☆ Order Fabales (24064), 833
⁶☆ Order Rosales (12,990), 302
⁷☆ Order Cucurbitales (3303), 111
⁸☆ Order Fagales (1690), 35

♤ Clade Malvids (35298), 1706 Genera
⁹☆ Order Geraniales (819), 16
¹⁰☆ Order Myrtales (14858), 388
¹¹☆ Order Crossosomatales (64), 13
¹²☆ Order Picramniales (52), 4
¹³☆ Order Sapindales (6817), 484
¹⁴☆ Order Huerteales (30), 6
¹⁵☆ Order Malvales (7459), 351
¹⁶☆ Order Brassicales (5199), 444
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⁷☆ Order Cucurbitales (3303), 111 Genera
•⁵ Family Cucurbitaceae (1086), 100 Genera - Gourd Family
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Zehneria (72)
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