Calabash Gourd Tree

Crescentia cujete Linnaeus

Hawaiian name:
La'amia

Common names:
Calabash tree, Krabasi, Kalebas, Huingo.

Family:
Bignoniaceae (Bignonia family)

        The Calabash Tree grows to 30 feet (10 meters) often with multiple trunks. The rangy twisting branches have simple elliptical leaves clustered at the nodes.

        The Calabash Tree (Crescentia cujete Linnaeus), Arbol de las Calabazas, La'amia, or Higuera is found growing throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.

       Native Americans disseminated the calabash for centuries; now, it is uncertain where the tree originated.

       An attractive low-maintenance tree with erect branches and eye-catching oval, hard-shelled fruit which is used for making bird boxes, water scoops and even handbags. The leaves grow directly out of the branches. When the tree is loaded with mature fruits, the erect branches bend down, changing the tree´s shape.. 

              The Calabash Tree was one of the first cultivated plants in the world, grown not for food but as a container

The woody fruit, botanically a capsule, is elliptic, ovate, or spherical and may grow to 25 centimeters (10 inches) in diameter.

The fruits turn brown and rock hard and its easy to see why they are so popular for decoration. The fruit takes up to seven months to ripen.

    Fibers from the calabash tree were twisted into twine and ropes. The hard wood made tools and tool handles. The split wood was woven for sturdy baskets. But it was the calabash's gourd-like fruit that made the plant truly useful.

You are bidding on * fresh seeds collected and grown in Hawaii.

      The greenish-yellow flowers are marked with purple veins. The flowers arise from the trunk or main branches and appear from May through January.

        The flowers bloom at night. The fruits develop after pollination by bats.

       Large calabash gourds were used as bowls and, peculiarly, to disguise the heads of hunters.

      The Taíno of the Caribbean cut eye holes in the 'gourds' and fitted them over their heads. The hunters then waded out into lakes or the ocean. The apparently floating gourd did not frighten birds. Thus disguised, hunters could grab birds by their legs. Smaller calabash gourds made storage containers, dippers, and drinking cups.

       The instrument used to give rhythm to Capoeira (a Brazilian martial art), called "berimbau", uses the dry shell of this fruit cut in a half.

The Taíno gave the musical world two rhythm instruments, maracas and the güiro. Maracas were made with small oval 'gourds' with pebbles or hard seeds like rosary peas inside. The güiro was made with an elongated 'gourd'. Parallel grooves were carved onto one side with a sound hole on opposite. The sound was created with a pua or scraper.

     Considering though how the Natives spread the calabash tree from tribe to tribe, the instruments were probably not unique to just the islands where the Taíno lived. Few Natives survived the incursion of the Europeans, but their unique instruments were adopted by the slaves and the poor brought over to work the sugar plantations.

Crescentia cujete Linnaeus

           This is a small evergreen tropical tree growing up to of 25' tall.

       Calabash Gourd Tree has a rough bark and simple leaves with cauliflorus flowers that appear directly from nodes on the trunk and branches.

    The flowers bloom at night. The fruits develop after pollination by bats.

            The Fruits are large, up to 14" in diameter and globulose with a hard green woody shell.

           Inside there is a pulp that has medicinal applications in Surinam traditional medicine. The fruit pulp is used for respiratory problems (asthma).

The flat seeds are small and embedded in the pulp.

Hawaiian name:
La'amia

Calabash Gourd Tree

Height: 15-30 ft. (4.7-9 m)

      Hardiness: USDA Zone 10b: to 1.7 °C (35 °F)

               Plant in frost free locations, has no tolerance for even a light frost.

            Sun Exposure: Full sun, well drained soils; has some salt tolerance.

Danger: All parts of plant are poisonous if ingested

Propagation: Seeds, cuttings.

          Polynesian Produce Stand           

 

    

   Shipping    

ATTENTION USA BIDDERS!

     All live plants are shipped bare-root wrapped in moist sphagnum moss to ensure the plant’s healthy transit to you. All live plants are Inspected By USDA Plant Inspectors before they are shipped to insure you get healthy pest free plants and seeds.

We ship via USPS Mondays-Wednesday with Delivery confirmation.

  All plant materials are required by LAW to inspected and certified by USDA prior to export Hawaii to the US Mainland.

 After Inspection, USDA stamps released for export Hawaii to the US Mainland. All items are delivered to USDA Inspection Station at Honolulu International airport.

USDA Certification charge is included in Shipping and Handling @ $5 fee per item/species.

There is a packing & custom boxing fee.

Last and usually least is USPS postage (shipping).

 

ATTENTION INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS!

         We can ship live plants to the US only. Only Domestic Shipping and Handling includes USDA Certification.

We ship Seeds Internationally.

  All International shipments are at Buyer's Risk. Please spend no more more than you can lose!

Proper Permits and Documents are the BUYER's responsibility. Please request any documents prior to shipping.

For foreign customers, please check your laws concerning permitting and customs, additional shipping and handling costs may apply.

         The additional charge for any Phytosanitary Certificate is not included in this offer.

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING ON LIVE PLANTS is available only under these conditions!

All international orders are shipped at the BUYER's RISK  (shipped with or without documents) and no refunds or replacements are offered for Dead On Arrival, loss, confiscation, Customs Seizure, unanticipated charges, etc.

 

   Payment

            We accept online payments only through PayPal, Cash payments are only acceptable for in-person payments and cash-on-delivery (COD). Cash payment can not be sent through the mail.

      Please only one Paypal payment. SO THE COMBINED SHIPPING RULE WILL CAN BE USED. Multiple paypal payments are NOT eligible for discounts.

        We will ship once a week - ON or BEFORE WEDNESDAYS, because of the special stamps needed to ship plants and cuttings to you.  This can only be done at the Dept. of Agriculture.  If payments are not met before that MONDAY, your items will be shipped the following week and lose the combined discount opportunity.

         Non-paying bidders may receive negative feedback and will be reported as an unpaid item to eBay.

 

COMBINED SHIPPING POLICY

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING is not included in this offer.   INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING ON LIVE PLANTS on a case by case basis.

We will combine shipping for auctions won on the same week paid with same paypal payment.

   This policy is good for auction items bought and paid for in the week ending MONDAY.

Payment must be received within 7 days of the auction ending. 

Combined Discounts Won Auctions

     For 2-3 winning auctions, the combined discount is 10% of the total Shipping and Handling charges. For 4-7 winning auctions, the combined discount is 20% of the total Shipping and Handling charges. For 7+ winning auctions, the combined discount is 30% of the total Shipping and Handling charges.

 

         As each order is packed and prepared separately you will pay the quoted S/H charges individually per item. If you buy the same species in that item it does calculate out the discount (i.e.: additional item $3.61). My stores' combined shipping is built in for same items rather than a varied selection. Includes postage, USDA certification and inspection, proper packing and delivery to Airport for prompt delivery. I can’t really change any of these. If you want one of this and one of that, it gets hard to discount much as each different species requires it's own prep & packing, then at USDA each has to be unwrapped and inspected then repacked. USDA requires me to clean and prepare every last piece before we drive them to the Inspection Station on the other side of the island. It takes my wife and I, a day to pack items and get ready to ship. The whole next day we drive around the island and get inspected (2-3 hours), then drive to the Airport Post Office to drop off. It takes the same work with the same type item if you can understand.

 

LIVE PLANTS ARE PERISHABLE.

For this reason uninsurable.

        When you order a plant we assume you are prepared to care for it. Please have potting media and a container prepared for your plant before it arrives. Shipping can be stressful on a plant, and any mistakes that you make upon arrival can stress the plant further, which is not good. Proper care is critical upon arrival. It is your responsibility to know how to care for the plant.

Not every plant that I order through the mail survives, and I am aware of that and accept the risk when I order. This is the risk that you as the buyer accept, because there is no way to know what kind of conditions it will endure in the trip to your door. My responsibility ends when a live plant is delivered to your door. Live arrival is guaranteed, eternal survival is up to you.

 Do NOT email me a week after potting your plant, and make a claim it arrived damaged. From delivery confirmation, you have only 48 hours from delivery confirmation to make any claim.

 

All claims need to be supported with Photos of the damaged plant(s) as packed/unpacked, the box if damaged, the packing materials and any documents. I am very reasonable and understanding, anything can happen to small plants in transit.

The expense to send it to you is most of your payment. To send any replacement (s), I try to piggy back with your next order.

Replacement is not an option for CUSTOMS SEIZURE.

ALL OF MY ITEMS ARE SHIPPED USDA CERTIFIED WITHIN THE U.S.- USDA and USPS fees are included in the actual cost of shipping and Handling.

Please do not leave a 1 or 2 in my detailed seller ratings for postage fees or any reason really because I will have to charge even more rather than to ship items the best way and use the least expensive way. These are coming from Hawaii. The only thing inexpensive here in Hawaii are my items!! I do ship all my items promptly via best method--if you feel like the combined shipping fee is wrong, please wait to be invoiced and check back with me-I value your business and will work diligently to keep you satisfied. I am very generous and reasonable with reasonable people, just ask.

 

my dog Taz will fetch your email to me

If you are dissatisfied with the item, please contact me   

before leaving a negative or neutral comment.

I want you to be satisfied.

Mahalo iâ `oe no ke kipa `ana mai. E kipa mai hou!

Mahalo & Aloha!! 

Rare Palm Seeds

Fresh Highest Quality

         Seller warrants seed to be of the variety and quantity advertised. Safe delivery is guaranteed and seeds lost or damaged during shipment will be replaced at seller's expense. Claims must be made within 7 days of shipment. All other replacements, refunds, returns and exchanges will be made at the sole discretion of the seller.

  Seed is a live product which depends on many important related grower skills such as proper planting time, seed depth, type of soil, irrigation, proper use of fertilizers, weed controls, fungicides, insecticides, disease free soil, and reasonable weather conditions during the growing period. Germination is affected by such factors as temperature, moisture content, light intensity and contamination of planting media. These factors are totally out of the seller's control and are the buyer's responsibility and risk. Consequentially, the seller cannot unconditionally guarantee seed to perform properly regardless of conditions or the buyer's methods or mistakes.