''Crescentia'' (calabash tree, huingo, krabasi, or kalebas) is a genus of six species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s in the family

Bignoniaceae Bignoniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpetvines.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Book ...

, native to southern North America, the Caribbean,

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. The species are moderate-size

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s growing to tall, and producing large spherical fruits, with a thin, hard shell and soft pulp, up to in diameter.

Uses

The fruit pulp is used traditionally for respiratory problems. The hard shell can be used for containers, scoops, cups etc.

Selected species

*''

Crescentia alata ''Crescentia alata'', variously called Mexican calabash, jícaro, morro, morrito, or winged calabash, is a plant species in the family Bignoniaceae and in the genus '' Crescentia'', native to southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa R ...

'' *''

Crescentia cujete ''Crescentia cujete'', commonly known as the calabash tree, is a species of flowering plant native to the Americas, that is grown in Africa, Central America, South America, the West Indies and extreme southern Florida. It is the national tree ...

'' *'' Crescentia portoricensis''

References

External links

* http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2014/02/10/planet-calabash/ Bignoniaceae genera Flora of Central America Flora of the Caribbean Flora of South America Flora of Southern Mexico Tropical fruit Neotropical realm flora Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Bignoniaceae-stub