Calabash Tree

Crescentia cujete, the calabash tree, is a medium-sized tree in the trumpet vine family, native to the Americas and grown in Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, South America, the West Indies and southern Florida. It is the national tree of St. Lucia. The hard rind of its fruit is made into cups, bowls and other vessels, and the article notes that a vessel of it is considered consistent with the Ital lifestyle of avoiding refined products. In Haiti the plant is called kalbas kouran, literally running calabash, and it is used to make the sacred rattle that is the emblem of the Vodou priesthood, called an ason. Elsewhere in the Americas its vessels are used at festivals: Costa Rica holds an annual dance of the calabashes, and Native Americans serve chicha in calabash vessels at special events. The article distinguishes this tree from the unrelated plant also called calabash, the bottle gourd.