Crescentia alata
Crescentia alata
''Crescentia alata'' is a species in the trumpet-flower family Bignoniaceae and in the calabash trees genus ''Crescentia'', native to southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica.
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, as the seeds inside the fruits cannot germinate unless the shells are broken open, and with the exception of horses and humans, no animals alive today break open the fruits.
It has been observed that domestic horses may smash the fruit with their hooves and eat the pulp and seeds .
Daniel Janzen suggested that Gomphotheres may have previously been responsible for the dispersal of ''C. alata'' seeds. 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.
The fruit plays a role in the ''Popol Vuh'' . 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. This is presumably a mythic justification for the resemblance of the fruit to skulls and the carrion smell of the tree in flower . 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.
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, as the seeds inside the fruits cannot germinate unless the shells are broken open, and with the exception of horses and humans, no animals alive today break open the fruits.
It has been observed that domestic horses may smash the fruit with their hooves and eat the pulp and seeds .
Daniel Janzen suggested that Gomphotheres may have previously been responsible for the dispersal of ''C. alata'' seeds. 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.
The fruit plays a role in the ''Popol Vuh'' . 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. This is presumably a mythic justification for the resemblance of the fruit to skulls and the carrion smell of the tree in flower . 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.