The Bignoniaceae is a family of flowering plants comprising of about 650-750 species in 116-120 genera.
Gourd Tree |
Members of the family are mostly trees and shrubs, and more rarely climbing or herbaceous plants in 116-120 genera. This family is commonly found as ornamental plants due to their large and often colourful flowers.
Important members include the calabash tree (Crescentia cujete) and many genera cultivated in horticulture such as Jacaranda.
The Gourd Tree is an example in which one can use a living tree without destroying it in any way. If renewable parts of the tree such as the flowers, fruits and leaves are used, then the pressure on cutting forests is much minimised. The following is taken from Wild Trees in the Cayman Islands by Fred Burton, with illustrations by Penny Clifford.
Gourd Tree
Crescentia cujete
The Gourd Tree, or Calabash, is a sprawling tree with thick branches dividing from the base of the tree and leaning out at all angles. The result is a rather tangled mass of branches often making the tree wider than high. The Gourd Tree is unmistakable for its large fruits, which are bright green while they are on the tree. They develop from large, short-lived flowers, which spout directly from the bark of the trunk and larger branches.
The trunk is covered in spongy bark, with random cracks. Small round swellings on the trunk and larger branches support clusters of leaves all over the tree, unlike most trees which have leaves clustered at the ends of branches to form a canopy.
Gourd Trees can be found in areas seasonally flooded with fresh ground water, in quite remote places: however most such trees are probably survivors from cultivation.
There has never been a native animal large enough to seat and so disperse seeds from the huge, woody fruits, so the Gourd Tree is probably not originally native to Cayman. It is found wild in the mainland tropical Americas, and throughout the West Indies. In Cayman the traditional use of the gourds was to make soup bowls, plates and water containers from the woody outer shell. Propagation by cutting can be successful.
Grow Cayman Plants and encourage Cayman Wildlife! For more information, to share your knowledge or if you would like to get involved with the many activities in the National Trust’s Know Your Islands Program, please visit www.nationaltrust.org.ky, or call 949-0121.The weekly column from the National Trust is submitted by Marnie Laing, Education Programs Manager at the Trust.
Last week’s answer: Fire Coral is actually closer on the family tree to jellyfish and other stinging anemones.
Trivia question: When was the first survey ‘map’ of Cayman made?
Look for the answer in next week’s feature!
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