Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Large
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Tropical wetland
Range: Sub-Saharan Africa
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Uncommon

About

One of humanity's oldest cultivated plants, the bottle gourd has been grown for at least 10,000 years across Africa, Asia, and the Americas — prized not just as food but for its hard, lightweight dried shell, which is carved into bowls, bottles, and musical instruments.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Lagenaria
Species: Lagenaria siceraria