# Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Gourd

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​GOURD, a name given to various plants of the order Cucurbitacece, but more strictly applied to those belonging to the genus Cucurbita, monoecious trailing herbs of annual duration, with long succulent stems furnished with tendrils, and large, rough, palmately-lobed leaves ; the flowers, reti culated with veins, are generally large and of a bright yellow or orange colour, the barren ones with the stamens united ; the fertile are followed by the large, succulent fruit that gives the gourds their chief economic value. Many varieties of Cucurbita are under cultivation in tropical and temperate climates, especially in southern Asia ; but it is extremely difficult to refer them to definite specific groups, on account of the facility with which they hybridize ; while it is very doubtful whether any of the original forms now exist in the wild state. M. Naudin, who made a careful and interesting series of observations upon this genus, came to the conclusion that all varieties known in European gardens might be referred to six original species ; probably three, or at most four, have furnished the edible kinds in ordinary cultivation ; and, as all these appear occasionally to hybridize, their limits must be regarded as very uncertain. Adopting the specific names usually given to the more familiar forms, the most important of the gourds, from an economic point of view, is perhaps C. maxima, the Potiron Jaune of the French, the red and yellow gourd of British gardeners, the spheroidal fruit of which is remarkable for its enormous size : the colour of the somewhat rough rind varies from white to bright yellow, while in some kinds it remains green ; the fleshy interior is of a deep yellow or orange tint. This valuable gourd is grown extensively in southern Asia and Europe. In Turkey and Asia Minor it yields, at some periods of the year, an important article of diet to the people ; immense quantities are sold in the markets of Const intinople, where in the winter the heaps of one variety with a white rind are described by Walsh as resembling mounds of snowballs. The yellow kind attains occasionally a weight of upwards of 240 Ib. It grows well in central Europe and the United States, while in the south of 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 nutri ment, and is the more valuable as the fruit can be kept, even in warm climates, for a long time. In France and in the East it is much used in soups and ragouts, while simply boiled it forms a substitute for other table vegetables ; the taste has been compared to that of a young carrot. In some countries the larger kinds are employed as cattle food. The seeds yield by expression a large quantity of a bland oil, which is used for the same purposes as that of the poppy and olive. The "mammoth" gourds of English and American gardeners appear to belong to this species, or to hybrids between it and another valuable member of the group, the pumpkin, C. Pepo, well known in English cottage gardens, and largely cultivated in continental Europe and North America. The pumpkin varies much in form, being sometimes nearly globular, but more generally oblong or ovoid in shape ; the rind is smooth, and very variable in colour. This gourd is a useful plant to the American back woods farmer, yielding, both in the ripe and unripe condi tion, a valuable fodder for his cattle and pigs, being fre quently planted at intervals among the maize that consti tutes his chief crop. The larger kinds acquire a weight of from 40 to 80 Ib, but smaller yarteties are in more esteem for garden culture, When ripe, the pumpkin is boiled or baked, or made into various kinds of pie, alone or mixed with other fruit ; while small and gresn, it may be eateu like the vegetable marrow. Some of the varieties of C. maxima and Pepo contain a considerable quantity of sugar, amounting in the sweetest kinds to 4 or 5 per cent., and in the hot pl.dns of 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 vegetable when boiled. The vegetable marrow, C. oi ifera, regarded by Naudin as a variety of C. Pepo, is much esteemed in England for the delicate flavour of its fruit, which is eaten boiled, in the immature state, as a pleasant summer vegetable. A large number of varieties are in cultivation, the larger oblong or pear-shaped kinds growing a foot or more in length, while some are comparatively email. This useful esculent will succeed in any warm and open situation, if planted over a small trench filled with manure; it is often trained over the fences of cottage gardens, and may be sometimes seen flourishing on the sunny side of railway cuttings in the south of England. C. Melopepo, is the squash or bush gourd, a favourite vegetable in the United States and in parts of continental Europe, but less cultivated in Britain than the preceding. It has a somewhat different habit from most of the family, having more rigid shoots and a tendency towards a shrubby mode of growth ; the fruit, yellowish when ripe, is smaller than the pumpkin, and of various shapes, usually with many angles or projections; some sorts resemble a turban, others many-cornered hats, whence fan ciful names have been applied to them. The number of kinds is considerable, especially in the United States, where the squashes are much cultivated ; the larger kinds are grown as food for pigs and cattle, besides being valued as table esculents ; for cooking they should be used in the unripe condition. Many smaller gourds are cultivated in 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. Aurantta, the orange gourd, bearing a spheroidal fruit, like a large orange in form and colour; in Britain It is generally too bitter to be palatable, though applied to culinary purposes in Turkey and the Levant. C. pyri- formis, C. verrucosa, and C. moschata are likewise occasion ally eaten, especially in the immature state ; and several other gourds are used as esculents in India and the neigh bouring countries. The bottle-gourds are now generally placed in a separate genus, Lagenaria, chiefly differing from Cucurbita in the anthers being free instead of adherent. The bottle-gourd properly so-called, L. vulgaris, is a climbing plant with downy, heart-shaped leaves and beautiful white flowers : the remarkable fruit first begins to grow in the form of ,111 elongated cylinder, but gradually widens towards the ex tremity, until, when ripe, it resembles a flask with a narrow neck and large rounded bulb ; it sometimes attains a length of 7 feet. When ripe, the pulp is removed from the neck, and the interior cleared by leaving water standing in it ; the woody rind that remains is used as a bottle : or the lower part is cut off and cleared out, forming a basin-like vessel applied to the same domestic purposes as the cala bash (Crescentia) of the West Indies; the smaller varieties, divided length-wise, form spoons. The ripe fruit is apt to be bitter and cathartic, but while immature it is eaten by the Arabs and Turks. When about the " size of a small cucumber," Lane says, it is stuffed with rice and minced meat, flavoured with pepper, onions, &c., and then boiled, ​forming a favourite dish with Eastern epicures. The elongated snake-gourds of India and China (Trichosanthes) are said to be used in curries and stews. All the 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 some species possess rather strong anthelmintic properties ; those of the common pumpkin are frequently administered in America as a vermifuge. The cultivation of gourds commenced far beyond the dawn of 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 birth place of the present edible forms ; but some appear to have been cultivated in all the hotter regions of that continent, and in North Africa, from the earliest ages, while the Romans were familiar with at least certain kinds of Cucur bita, and with the bottle-gourd. It is even doubtful whether the culture of gourds had not spread to the American continent before its discovery by Europeans ; for the Indian tribes of the interior were certainly in possession of some kinds at a date so early that it is difficult to believe they had received them from the settlers. Dr Asa Gray has even suggested that some of these esculent forms may possibly have been indigenous to the American plains. Most of the annual gourds may be grown successfully in Britain. They are usually raised in hotbeds or under frames, and planted out iu rich soil in the early summer as soon as the nights become warm. The more ornamental kinds may be trained over trellis-work, a favourite mode of displaying them in the East ; but the situation must be sheltered and sunny. Even the Lagenarice will sometimes produce fine
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