a small botany lesson on Lagenaria gourds

Poststructural Pub
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a small botany lesson on Lagenaria gourds
part 1



I’ve been known to make the occasional silly post, but this one is entirely serious and educational. The following is about Lagenaria gourds, one of my favorite plants. They are also known as hard shell gourds. (The bumpy kind of gourd you often see in fall decorations are a different species.)

Gourds are members of the family Cucurbitaceae (Cue-cur-bit-TAY-see-ee), which includes cucumbers, squash, watermelons, cantaloupe, luffa squash and pumpkins. Botanists call them “Cucurbits” for short.


Surprisingly, there have been some Cucurbit / Canine intergeneric hybrids. This is my melon-collie baby.


Many of our garden cucurbits are new world plants. For example, Wiki says this about squash:


Archaeological evidence suggests that squash may have been first cultivated in Mesoamerica some 8,000 to 10,000 years ago … Squash was one of the “Three Sisters” planted by Native Americans. The Three Sisters were the three main indigenous plants used for agriculture: maize (corn), beans, and squash. These were usually planted together, with the cornstalk providing support for the climbing beans, and shade for the squash. The squash vines provided ground cover to limit weeds. The beans provided nitrogen fixing for all three crops.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squash_(fruit) >

These new-world cucurbit species have yellow flowers and are pollinated by bees and other day-flying insects.





Lagenaria gourds, however, are an old-world genus. They come from out of Africa and India.
Notice the gourds growing in the background of this picture.




Unlike the new-world cucurbits, their flowers are white, and open in the evening






They are pollinated by moths, beetles, and other things that only come out at night. Edgar Winter was so inspired by this phenomenon that he made a whole CD about it. Purchase it here:

http://www.amazon.com/They-Only-Come-Out-Night/dp/B0000024Z3

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Part 2

Lagenaria gourds require hot growing conditions and are slow to start in the spring. Once hot summer days arrive, however, they grow incredibly fast. This photo was taken Monday





and here they are on Tuesday





Gourd plants climb by means of tendrils. The tendrils start out straight, but once they catch hold of something, they start to coil up.


One gourd plant will climb well, but if you plant several together their tendrils catch hold of each others’ stems, and they strengthen each other. They are social climbers.

Sometimes they will tie their tendrils into Gourdian knots.


The leaves of Lagenaria gourds are soft and rubbery, compared to the bristly, stiff leaves of many other cucurbits. They also have a really interesting, funky smell. (Scratch and sniff picture below)


Here are some birdhouse gourds beginning to form. They must be left on the vine until the shells get really tough.


Here’s why birdhouse gourds need to be tough. Notice the chew marks!

End of class. Quiz next week!






Photocredits–
All photos by me except for the following.
“cucurbits” and “squashbloss” came from ag extension websites-- sorry, I lost the reference
“outofafrica” came from Amazon.com
The adorable collie puppy comes from this website
http://users.kymp.net/p405752a/collies.htm
Zinnia’s Rough Collies

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Would it be correct to guess that all the gourds in the first pic are soft, New World types?

When did you get the collie pup? They’re beautiful dogs! What’s his name?

Who’s Gord, and why isn’t he? :boggle:

I have read that one of the reasons the Indians planted squash and pumpkins under the maize was to keep the racoons out of the cobs. Apparently the racoons don’t like the little thorns on the vines.

Why do you chew your gourds? Is there some hidden periodontal benefit?

djm

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:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

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Would it be correct to guess that all the gourds in the first pic are soft, New World types?

Watermelons are from Africa / Asia-- I’ll have to look up cantaloupes.

When did you get the collie pup? They’re beautiful dogs! What’s his name?

We put a deposite on him, but won’t take him unless he develops the distinctive green and white striped fur. …They are a very sweet-tempered breed, originally developed for sheep herding. When they get close to the sheep, instead of giving them “the eye” they spit seeds at them.

Possible name “Rollie”-- he’s already very good at rolling over!

Who’s Gord? > :boggle: >

Friend of mine. Don’t see much of him though-- travels a lot-- very lightfooted.

Apparently the racoons don’t like the little thorns on the vines.

Interesting!!

Why do you chew your gourds? Is there some hidden periodontal benefit?

I don’t chew on them, but the birds do. As a result they have no cavities in their teeth.

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I’m sure this is a silly question, but whereas the inorganic nutrients must reach the other portions of the plant from the roots through the xylem via a combination of root pressure and transpiration through the leaves, what mechanism does the Lagenaria plant use to transport photosynthesized compounds to the non-producing portions of the plant? I mean, obviously through the phloem, but that’s the conduit, not the mechanism. Also, what roll do the tendrils play? Do they photosynthesize?

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:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

what mechanism does the Lagenaria plant use to transport photosynthesized compounds to the non-producing portions of the plant? I mean, obviously through the phloem, but that’s the conduit, not the mechanism.

Wow! no clue.
And those tendrils grow just incredibly fast, literally inches in a day. What fuels 'em?

and I want to know how they form those spirals and then tighten them up.

Sounds like MS thesis material :boggle:

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Except my major is forest ecology. Granted it’s a branch of biology (no pun intended) but that particular aspect of plant biology isn’t my focus, however fascinating it may be.

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You probably talked about this before-- sorry if I forgot-- but are you tropical or temperate forest ecology?

Here’s the seed of a very strange tropical cucurbit, this picture is close to life size.




The climbing gourd (> Alsomitra macrocarpa> ), native to the Sunda Islands of the Malay Archipelago, produces one of the largest winged seeds up to 5 inches (13 cm) wide inside a large, club-shaped gourd. The football-sized gourds hang from a vine high in the forest canopy, each packed with hundreds of winged seeds.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0503.htm

Thanks Deej for the pic / quote!

I never made it past undergrad, but had a job with the director of our herbarium. As a result I got a chance to TA an intro to botanical families course. A lot of the kids taking the class were forestry majors (outdoors types, not bookish at all)-- so to entice them to learn, we had as many edible examples as possible. We sort of munched our way through the major plant families :laughing:

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Temperate. I was actually trying to decide between forestry and forest ecology. I guess the labbish part of me won out over the outdoorie part, but they can co-exist pretty well thanks to laptops. Besides, no better place to study than under a tree, provided you’re not under a nest or a bird’s flight-path.


Oh, and that’s one huge seed there.

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Yes but what kind of tree? Evergreen or deciduous? Leaves opposite or alternate? :wink:

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I think you should write a gourd article for the Uncyclopedia http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

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Man, you are really a great gardener. I noticed in your pics that not only did the gourds grow really fast, but the tomatoes ripened between “Monday” and “Tuesday”… :stuck_out_tongue:

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I live were the Drinking Gourd points.

Anything that grows that fast can’t be native to this world!

Anstapa

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WHAAAAAT!!! :astonished: A QUIZ??? :boggle: No WAY!!! :boggle: :astonished:

What am I going to do? What was the name of that squash thing again? Laguardia? Lunagordia? Is spelling going to count? I’m so dead.

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Take a deep breath and calm down. The test is clearly open forum.

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Quiz
You may work on this quiz as a group :slight_smile:

  1. What is the “drinking gourd” that Anstapa mentioned? (Note-- there is an astronomical connection!)

  2. What are the characteristics of a fine vine?

  3. Elvis sang a song about how much he loves his gourd vines and the way they grow. What was it?

  4. What’s purple and conquered Mesopotamia? How did he deal with the problem of the Gourdian Knot?

  5. Explain the difference between being into gourds, and being out of your gourd.

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I like gourds. Next spring, the Lord willing that I am still in this apartment, I plan to plant some. I have a little tiny plot of land I could use, which is literally about 4’ by 3’ wide. Would that be big enough? I want to plant other things, too, of course, like zinnias and vegetables.

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You can sit in the back of the class with me and pass notes and be happy together when we get a D- each. At least it’s not an F, we’ll tell each other.

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  1. Alexander, in the Temple Courtyard, with a bloody great sword.
    (THAT would be a result in Cluedo!)