Crescentia cujete or the Calabash tree is widely cultivated in tropical regions as an ornamental, shade or specimen tree.
It has a pleasantly rounded crown and branches are long, spreading outward horizontally with almost no secondary branching.
The evergreen leaves are about 5–15 cm long, lance-shaped and taper at the base.
The flowers that can appear at any time of the year have five petals that are fused into a funnel shape and are light green/purple in colour. They emit a pungent, musky, cabbage scent in the evenings
Its most distinctive feature is the large, spherical, glossy green fruits it produces that are up to 50 cm in diameter. They have hard shells enclosing a beige to white coloured pulp and thin, dark brown seeds.
The pulp is rather astringent being used in traditional medicine as an emollient, expectorant and laxative.
The fruit shells are made into bowls, cups and other containers when hollowed out.