Crescentia cujete L.
| Kannada Name : | Sokeburude |
| Common Name : | Calabash tree |
| Family Name : | Bignoniaceae |
| Scientific Name : | Crescentia cujete |
| Species Type : | Exotic |
| Phenology : | Evergreen |
| Conservation Status : | Not known |
| Flowering Period : | All year |
| Fruiting Period : | All year |
| Origin : | Africa, Central and South America |
Uses
The juice of the fruit is used to treat diarrhoea, pneumonia and intestinal irregularity. The leaf is chewed to treat toothache. The leaves are used as a wash to cleanse dirty wounds.
Description
Small, evergreen tree, up to 10 m tall. Leaves simple, sessile, clustered at ends, obovate to oblanceolate, alternate, chartaceous, glabrous above, pubescent below, base attenuate, apex acute to obtuse. Inflorescence one or two cauliflorous flowers. Flower bisexual, yellowish-white with musty odour. Fruit a pepo, spherical to ovoid, up to 30 cm long, green; seeds small, scattered throughout the pulp.
