I was headed out after finding a couple caches in the area, and I noticed some interesting plants on the ground. I thought maybe someone threw them out. They looked intriguing to me so I got out to take a closer look and saw that they were actively growing on the vine. I had never seen these before, and thought it was really cool to see them thriving, especially in a dry and barren looking landscape.
When I got home I asked my friend Google about the gourds and here's the reply I got:
"Cucurbita palmata is a species of flowering plant in the squash family known by the common names coyote melon and coyote gourd. It is similar to Cucurbita californica"
"The melons are not edible, but were used as soap by Native Americans. Native Americans also ground the seed and used it for food. Dried gourds were used as rattles in dances. The vine can become invasive."
"Native Americans used the seeds for food and extracted the oil to mix with pigments for painting and body art. The gourds were used as drinking cups, ceremonial rattles and storage containers. The tuber was used as soap for bathing and laundry."
Do you think this plant was identified correclty? Do you know anything about it? I would love to hear any new info on it that anyone has.
(Not required to log the cache.)
