Thursday, November 10, 2011

Theme Thursday: Gourd

Gourd, the perfect theme this time of year; useful for centerpieces, displays, outdoor decoration. 

Eating?  Not so much.  According to Wikipedia:
A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae. Gourd is occasionally used to describe crops like cucumbers, squash, luffas, and melons.[1] The term 'gourd' however, can more specifically, refer to the plants of the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita[citation needed] or also to their hollow dried out shell.[2] The hard-rinded fruits can have carving done to create scenes raised in relief.[3] Painting[4] and wood burning[5] are also used to decorate the shells.

These are gourds.  You cannot eat this type.  

Pumpkins are part of the same genus Cucurbita.    Look closely, there are "gourds" lower left.

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11 comments:

DJan said...

They are so decorative, I guess that's why we buy them. I love their curly whimsy. :-)

Brian Miller said...

they can make for a great pie though...smiles....nice pic!

happy TT...wow been a while since i said that...smiles.

will said...

"hollow dried out shell"?

Wait a minute! Are you drifting into a political statement concerning the crop of pols running for the presidency?

mermaid gallery said...

I once made a mold of a gourd that looked like a goose and then assembled the clay molded pieces together to look like a gaggle of geese.....kind of cool.... i love the different images we see in them....

MaR said...

Lovely shots for TTheme!!

Karen said...

Wonderful photos. All of those gourds really mean it's actually really Fall isn't it? ugh. I'm such a summer kind of gal.....

Happy Theme Thursday!

The Silver Fox said...

I saw geese in that first shot...

Kris McCracken said...

Some sexy gourds there.

Betsy Brock said...

lovely!

You know, I thought a loofa was a sponge from the ocean instead of a gourd until I wrote my TT post. ha.

Baino said...

I have a friend who scrapes out the flesh and dries the outers, they make rather interesting sculptures.

Mrsupole said...

Hi California Girl,

Some gourds are just downright ugly and yet so fascinating. I was surprised to read that so many are edible but there are some that are poisonous. I also had never thought of cucumbers as gourds. I even forget that pumpkins are in the squash family.

It is amazing how artistic people are with their gourds. I wish I had some talent for decorating them or even figuring out a use for them.

Great picture of the garden.

It is so nice to see you here playing Theme Thursday.

God bless.