Crescentia alata

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Lamiales

Familia: Bignoniaceae
Tribus: Crescentieae
Genus: Crescentia
Species: Crescentia alata
Name

Crescentia alata Kunth, 1819
Synonyms

Homotypic
Parmentiera alata (Kunth) Miers, Trans. Linn. Soc. London 26: 166 (1868).
Pteromischus alatus (Kunth) Pichon, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 92: 227 (1945 publ. 1946).
Heterotypic
Crescentia trifolia Blanco, Fl. Filip.: 489 (1837).
Otophora paradoxa Blume, Rumphia 3: 146 (1847 publ. 1849).
Crescentia ternata Sessé & Moc., Naturaleza (Madrid), ser. 2, 1(App.): 94 (1889).

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Northern America
Regional: Mexico
Mexico (Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Colima, Durango, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico State, Michoacan, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Zacatecas)
Continental: Southern America
Regional: Central America
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References

Kunth, C.S. in F. W. H. A. von Humboldt et al., 1819. Nov. Gen. Sp. 3:123[folio]; 3:158[quarto].

Links

Hassler, M. 2019. Crescentia alata. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2019. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Apr. 29. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2019. Crescentia alata in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Apr. 29. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2019. Crescentia alata. Published online. Accessed: Apr. 29 2019.
The Plant List 2013. Crescentia alata in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Apr. 29.
Tropicos.org 2019. Crescentia alata. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2019 Apr. 29.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Crescentia alata in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Vernacular names
English: Mexican Calabash
suomi: Meksikonkalebassipuu

rescentia alata, variously called Mexican calabash, jícaro, morro, morrito, or winged calabash,[1] is a plant species in the family Bignoniaceae and in the genus Crescentia, native to southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica.

Description

It is a small tree growing to 8 m tall. It has hard, cannonball-like fruit 7–10 cm diameter, that are difficult to break into. It is believed that these fruit characteristics evolved as a defense mechanism against seed predation by long-dead megafauna of the region. However, now it seems to be a counter-productive strategy (an evolutionary anachronism), as the seeds inside the fruits cannot germinate unless the shells are broken open, and with the exception of horses and humans, no animals currently living in its native range can break open the fruits.

It has been observed that domestic horses may smash the fruit with their hooves and eat the pulp and seeds (suggesting that they may serve as seed distribution vectors).

Daniel Janzen suggested that gomphotheres (extinct elephant-like animals) may have previously been responsible for the dispersal of C. alata seeds.[2] With their extinction, C. alata became threatened with the possibility of habitat loss and suffered an extremely limited ability to migrate, but the introduction of a new vector, in the form of domestic horses, has allowed the species to maintain its viability. C. alata is, not surprisingly, most often found in open areas, such as pastures and fields. It is also cultivated for its gourd-like fruits, which may be hollowed and dried and used as containers for food and drink. In Central America, dried and painted gourd - like fruits are used by local people for making artisanal handicrafts such as piggy banks and ornaments.

Historical usage

The fruit plays a role in the Popol Vuh (book of myths of the Mayan civilization). After the first generation of hero twins, 1 Hunajpu and 7 Hunajpu, fail and are killed in the ball game in Xibalba, the demonic Xibalbans hang their skull in this tree. The skull later spits in the hand of the Xibalban princess Ixquic, thus impregnating her and begetting the second, successful generation of Maya Hero Twins.

The seeds are edible and high in protein with a licorice-like sweet taste, used in Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua to make a kind of horchata called semilla de jícaro.[3]

References

Crescentia Alata Archived 2009-05-06 at the Wayback Machine, Stephen H Brown, Factsheet, Lee County Extension Gardening Publications, University of Florida
Janzen, D. H; Martin, P. S (January 1982). "Neotropical anachronisms: The fruits the gomphotheres ate" (PDF). Science. 215 (4528): 19–27. doi:10.1126/science.215.4528.19. PMID 17790450. Retrieved 5 July 2012.

Flowering plants, dicotyledons: Lamiales (except Acanthaceae including Avicenniaceae), Joachim W. Kadereit, Springer, 2004, ISBN 3-540-40593-3, Google Books

"Crescentia alata". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).