Gourd Types

Cucurbita

• Cucurbita is a genus of gourds with non-edible fruit and seed that develop on flowering vines with yellow blooms. Grown for their ornamental value Cucurbita gourds come in a wide assortment of colors. Cucurbita pepo var. ovifera are small, shapely gourds with prickly leaves; varieties include Apple and Pear. Cucurbita maxima have irregular lobed leaves with medium-to-medium-large gourds; cultivars entail Aladdin and Turks Turban. Cucurbita ficifolia are gourds the size of melons that grow on vines with leaves that resemble figs. Types of Cucurbita ficfolia are Malahar Melon and Fig-leaf Gourd.

Lagenaria

• Lagenaria, a genus of large hard-shelled gourds, evolves from a fast growing vine that blossom with white night blooming flowers. Lagenaria siceraria has irregular leaves of a soft texture with medium to large sizes of fruit. Varieties of Lagenaria siceraria gourds drastically vary in shape and sizes. Calabash (Lagenaria siceraria "Calabash") has a smooth shell with a crooked neck and numerous shapes including rounded, bottle-shaped and slim. Dolphin (Lagenaria siceraria "Dolphin") is a light green gourd covered with markings and ridges. Clubs (Lagenaria siceraria "Club") are gourds with a long formation that resemble bowling pins.

Luffas

• Luffas are a genus of gourds known as vegetable sponges, with easily removed rinds that propagate on vines with yellow to white flowers. Ridged luffa (Luffa acutangula) are edible gourds indigenous to Asia with a length up to 12 inches long covered in 10 pointed ridges. When ridged luffa plants mature, the fruits act like fibrous sponges. Smooth luffas (Luffa aegyptiaca) are native African gourds used to make bath sponges when their fruit matures. During the plants immature stage, smooth luffa fruits are edible.

Other Gourds

• Other types of gourds belong to genuses like Trichosanthes and Momordica. Snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina) is a subtropical to tropical Asian vine with a rapid growth pattern. The whitish-green fruit have similar to shapes to luffa and Calabash gourds; however, snake gourds grow up to 6 feet tall. Japanese snake gourd (Trichosanthes japonica) is a medium green skinned fruit grown for culinary purposes in many Asian dishes. Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) originates from tropical regions of Australia, Africa and Asia. This poisonous plant grows from an annual climbing vine and produces smelly leaves with tubular yellow flowers. The fruit is a wart-covered gourd with a yellowish-orange hue.