Calabash Tree
Crescentia cujete
Family: Bignoniaceae
What it is like
Native to Central and South America, Crescentia cujete or commonly known as Calabash Tree is a small or medium-sized flowering tree about 10 meters in height. It is the national tree of St. Lucia. Its leaves are simple and alternate, its bole is thick, and its crown is dense and round. The flowers are round and bell-shaped. The fruit is used to make containers, cups, etc. Young fruit is occasionally pickled but the pulp is poisonous. The seeds are poisonous as well if consumed raw. Cooked seeds are used to make a beverage. The leaves are cooked and used in soups. Further, calabash tree has a wide range of medicinal uses. The fruit is used in the treatment of colds, diarrhoea, pneumonia, and intestinal irregularities. It is also used for relief from menstrual pains and to ease childbirth and procure an abortion. The leaves, on the other hand, can be used in the treatment of dysentery, colds, lung diseases, toothache, wounds, and headache. The bark is used to clean wounds. The wood is used for tool handles, ox yokes, vehicle parts, and sometimes in construction. It is also used for fuel.
Crescentia cujete is a deciduous Tree growing to 10 m (32ft) by 10 m (32ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 10 and is frost tender. The flowers are pollinated by Bats. It is noted for attracting wildlife. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils and can grow in very acid, very alkaline and saline soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil and can tolerate drought. The plant can tolerates strong winds but not maritime exposure.
Height (m): 10
Where it is found
Coastal scrub, dry lowlands in clearings. Roadsides, old pastures, thickets and woodland margins at elevations from sea level to 420 metres in Jamaica.
Tropical America - Colombia north through Central America to Mexico and most of the Caribbean
Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed
Countries/locations it is found in
Africa, Antigua and Barbuda, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cayman Islands, Central America, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guiana, Guianas, Guyana, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mexico, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niger, North Africa, North America, Pacific, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, SE Asia, Solomon Islands, South America, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Thailand, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, West Africa, West Indies.
How it is used
Food
Rating: 3
The young fruit is occasionally pickled. Considered the equal of pickled walnuts. The seed can be eaten when cooked. It is also used to make a beverage. A syrup and a popular confection called 'carabobo' is made from the seed. To make the syrup, the seeds are ground finely, mixed with sugar and a little water then boiled. The roasted seeds, combined with roasted wheat, are used as an aromatic and flavourful coffee substitute. The leaves are sometimes cooked in soups.
Oil: Oil
Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.
Coffee: the various substitutes that can be used instead of coffee.
Condiment: the various plants that are used as flavourings, either as herbs, spices or condiments.
Drink: not including plant saps, tea or coffee substitutes.
Medicine
Rating: 2
The pulp (of the fruit?) is astringent, emollient, expectorant and laxative. It is used in domestic medicines. The fruit is abortifacient, emetic, emmenagogue, purgative and vermifuge. A syrup made from the pulp of the fruit is a popular remedy for colds. The juice of the fruit is used to treat diarrhoea, pneumonia and intestinal irregularity. It is made into a strong tea and drunk to procure an abortion, to ease childbirth, and is used in a mix to relieve severe menstrual pains by eliminating blood clots. A syrup made from the fruit is used to treat consumption. The leaves are cholagogue, emetic (in larger doses), and purgative. An infusion is sometimes administered for treating dysentery. It is boiled with sugar, soft grease or Buckley's white rub to make a syrup that is used to treat colds. Juice of young leaves is drunk to remedy colds and lung diseases. The leaf is chewed to treat toothache The leaves are used as a wash to cleanse dirty wounds. The whole plant is used as a diuretic against hydropsy and diarrhoea. The ripe fruit-pulp contains crescentic, tartaric, citric, tannic, chlorogenic and hydrocyanic acids, and may cause abortion in cattle. The seed oil contains oleic acid. The stem-bark and leaf show antimicrobial activity
Abortifacient: Causes an abortion.
Antidiarrhoeal: Provides symptomatic relief for diarrhoea. Also see Astringent.
Astringent: Produces contraction in living tissue, reducing the flow of secretions and discharges of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.
Cholagogue: Increases the flow of bile and its discharge from the body.
Diuretic: Acts on the kidneys, promoting the flow of urine.
Dysentery: Used in treating dysentery - an infection of the intestines that causes diarrhoea containing blood or mucus.
Emetic: Induces vomiting.
Emmenagogue: Promotes or increases the menstrual flow. In early stages of pregnancy it can induce an abortion.
Emollient: Softens the skin, causing warmth and moisture.
Expectorant: Clears phlegm from the chest by inducing coughing.
Laxative: Stimulates bowel movements in a fairly gentle manner.
Odontalgic: Treats toothache (temporary measure only) and other problems of the teeth and gums.
Purgative: A drastic laxative causing a cleansing or watery evacuation of the bowels, usually with a griping pain.
Vermifuge: Expels and kills internal parasites.
Other
Rating: 4
Specimen, Curiosity, Support for epiphytes, Botanic collection, Latge conservatory, Xerophytic. Other Uses The plant produces subglobose hard-shelled fruits about 15 - 30cm long. Local people constrict the growth of these fruits by tying strings around them and, by so doing, fashion them into a variety of shapes. These can then be used as rattles, bowls, cups, containers etc, in much the same way as bottle gourds are used. The most general use of the shells is for making drinking vessels, but the larger ones serve to store all sorts of articles. Sections of the oblong forms are much used in place of spoons. Many of the jicaras, as the cups made from the shells are called, are handsomely decorated in colours or by incised designs. The hard, smooth shells polish well and are finely carved for ritual use in some parts of Africa. The wood is light brown or yellowish brown, with fine veining of darker colour, without distinctive taste or odour; moderately hard and heavy, tough and strong, coarse-textured, fairly easy to work, takes a smooth finish; but is probably not durable. It is used for ox yokes, tool handles, and vehicle parts and is sometimes used in construction. Thick crooked limbs often are used in Guatemala for making saddle trees. The wood has been used from Colonial times to the present to make stirrups - some of those of the colonial period are beautifully carved and are real objects of art. The wood is easy to carve when still green but when thoroughly seasoned is 'like iron' and some have perhaps been in use for 'hundreds' of years. The wood is also used for fuel.
Containers: Plants, such as gourds, that can be used as containers. Does not include baskets or containers made from wood.
Fuel: Usually wood, plant materials that have been mentioned as being a good fuel.
Oil: Vegetable oils have many uses, as lubricants, lighting, soap and paint making, waterproofing etc. This does not include the edible oils unless they are also mentioned as having other uses.
Plant support: Usually bamboos, used as canes in the garden for holding up plants.
Wood: A list of the trees and shrubs that are noted for having useful wood.
Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.
New Crop: Most new crops were important wild plants until recently, although some are the result of hybridization. They have been developed in the last few, decades. What they have in common is that they are currently cultivated by farmers. Examples include baobab, argan, and buffalo gourd.
Staple Crop: Protein-oil: (16+ percent protein, 16+ percent oil). Annuals include soybeans, peanuts, sunflower seeds. Perennials include seeds, beans, nuts, and fruits such as almond, Brazil nut, pistachio, walnut, hazel, and safou.
Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.
New Crop: Most new crops were important wild plants until recently, although some are the result of hybridization. They have been developed in the last few, decades. What they have in common is that they are currently cultivated by farmers. Examples include baobab, argan, and buffalo gourd.
Staple Crop: Protein-oil: (16+ percent protein, 16+ percent oil). Annuals include soybeans, peanuts, sunflower seeds. Perennials include seeds, beans, nuts, and fruits such as almond, Brazil nut, pistachio, walnut, hazel, and safou.
Attracts Wildlife: Plants noted for attracting wildlife
Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.
Food Forest: Plants for Edible Forest Gardens and Food Forests.
How it is grown
A plant of the lowland tropics. Prefers a fertile, moist soil in a sunny position. Established plants are very drought tolerant. Plants do not flower until they are quite large, then they can flower all year round. The flowers emit a pungent, musky, cabbage scent in the evenings. The large fruits have nectaries that are believed to attract stinging ants. These ants then ward off herbivores such as goats. The trees seem to afford a particularly good habitat for epiphytes, and in the wild they often are covered with orchids, bromeliads, and other plants. Blocks of the wood, used for mounting epiphytic plants, are sold commercially.
Propagating it: Seed. Air-layering. Cuttings.
Best place to grow:
Habit: Tree
Hardiness: 10-12
Growth: Slow
Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)
Shade: No shade
Moisture: Moist
Things to keep in mind
The pulp of the fruit is poisonous. The seeds are poisonous.(Seed is poisonous if ingested Parts of plant are poisonous if ingested All parts of plant are poisonous if ingested Handling plant may cause skin irritation or allergic reaction Plant has spines or sharp edges; use extreme caution when handling Pollen may cause allergic reaction N/A )
Its other names
Local names
Crescentia cujete or commonly known as Calabash Tree. Also known as Calabacero (Spain), CuitŽ (Brazil) Totumo (Panama, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru), Tutumo (Bolivia), Taparo (Venezuela), Mate (Ecuador), Huinga (Peru), Pate (Peru), Cuyabra (Colombia), J’caro (Mexico), Morro (Guatemala), GŸira (Cuba), Cujete (Spain, Philippines), Miracle Fruit (Philippines), Kalbas (Dominica and St. Lucia), Higuera (Puerto Rico) and Rum tree (Sri Lanka). other names: Berenuk, Calabazo, Gasu, Jicara, Kalebasboom, Khoria, La'amia, Majpahit, Nam-dtao-ton, Pohon buah berenuk, Pohon majapahit, Qua dao tien, Tabu kayu, Totumo, Xicalli.