Crescentia cujete (PROSEA)

Plant Resources of South-East Asia Introduction

List of species

Crescentia cujete L.

Protologue: Sp. pl. 2: 626 (1753).

Synonyms

• Crescentia ovata Burm.f. (1768),
• Crescentia acuminata Kunth (1819).

Vernacular names

• Calabash tree (En).
• Calebassier (Fr)
• Indonesia: sikadel (Javanese), bernuk (Sundanese), buah no (Ternate)
• Malaysia: tabu kayu
• Philippines: cujete (Tagalog)
• Thailand: namtao yeepun, namtao ton (Bangkok)
• Vietnam: dào tiên.

Distribution

C. cujete is extensively cultivated throughout tropical America and its natural range is obscure. It has been introduced throughout the tropics.

Uses

In Sumatra, a decoction of the bark is used to clean wounds, and the pounded leaves are applied as a poultice for headache. In West Africa and the Caribbean the fresh fruit pulp is macerated in water and is considered depurative, cooling and a febrifuge, and good for headache and burns. In Vietnamese folk medicine the dried fruit is used as an expectorant, antitussive, laxative and stomachic. In West Africa, the ash of the roasted fruit is considered mildly purgative and diuretic. In Central America, various parts of the fruit are a common ingredient in syrups for cough and colds. In Thailand and Central America, crushed leaves are applied on wounds to stop bleeding and promote healing. A decoction of the leaves or bark is astringent and taken for diarrhoea and dysentery. The shell of the dried fruits is used for a wide range of household utensils of various dimensions.

Observations

• A small tree, up to 10 m tall, stem up to 30 cm in diameter, branches crooked, branchlets essentially lacking, crown open.
• Leaves simple, of varying size within a fascicle, obovate, (1.5-)4-26 cm ×1-7.5 cm, base attenuate, apex obtuse to acute, petiole absent.
• Flowers solitary or paired, calyx 2-lobed to the base, corolla tube 3-4.5 cm long, corolla lobes 2.5-3 cm long, 3-4.5 cm wide at mouth of tube, yellowish with purple venation.
• Berry spherical to ovoid-elliptical, (8-)13-20(-30) cm in diameter and up to 30 cm long.

In South-East Asia C. cujete is planted in the lowlands, grown in lawns and parks, and used for hedges.

Selected sources

• [74] Backer, C.A. & Bakhuizen van den Brink Jr, R.C., 1964—1968. Flora of Java. 3 volumes. Noordhoff, Groningen, the Netherlands. Vol. 1 (1964) 647 pp., Vol. 2 (1965) 641 pp., Vol. 3 (1968) 761 pp.
• [134] Burkill, H.M., 1985—2000. The useful plants of West tropical Africa. 2nd Edition. 5 volumes. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Vol. 1 (1985), Families A—D, 960 pp.; Vol. 2 (1994), Families E—I, 636 pp.; Vol. 3 (1995), Families J—L, 857 pp.; Vol. 4 (1997), Families M—R, 969 pp; Vol. 5 (2000), Families S—Z, 686 pp.
• [135] Burkill, I.H., 1966. A dictionary of the economic products of the Malay Peninsula. Revised reprint. 2 volumes. Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Vol. 1 (A—H) pp. 1—1240, Vol. 2 (I—Z) pp. 1241—2444.
• [207] Corner, E.J.H., 1988. Wayside trees of Malaya. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. The Malayan Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 774 pp.
• [407] Heyne, K., 1950. De nuttige planten van Indonesië [The useful plants of Indonesia]. 3rd Edition. 2 volumes. W. van Hoeve, 's-Gravenhage, the Netherlands/Bandung, Indonesia. 1660 + CCXLI pp.
• [696] Morton, J.F., 1981. Atlas of medicinal plants of Middle America. Bahamas to Yucatan. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, United States. 1420 pp.
• [733] Ngulube, M.R., 1989. Seed germination, seedling growth and biomass production of eight Central-American multipurpose trees under nursery conditions in Zomba, Malawi. Forest Ecology and Management 27(1): 21—27.
• [788] Pételot, A., 1952—1954. Les plantes médicinales du Cambodge, du Laos et du Vietnam [The medicinal plants of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. 4 volumes. Centre National de Recherches Scientifiques et Techniques, Saigon, Vietnam.
• [806] Purseglove, J.W., 1968—1972. Tropical crops. Longman, London, United Kingdom. Dicotyledons. 2 volumes (1968), 719 pp. Monocotyledons. 2 volumes (1972), 607 pp.
• [810] Quisumbing, E., 1978. Medicinal plants of the Philippines. Katha Publishing Co., Quezon City, the Philippines. 1262 pp.
• [864] Santisuk, T. & Vidal, J.E., 1985. Bignoniaceae. In: Lescot, M. (Editor): Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêtnam [Flora of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam]. Vol. 22. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 72 pp.

Main genus page

• Crescentia

Authors

• Sri Hayati Widodo