| Hardshell gourds areLagenaria siceraria. Their white flowers open as the day cools to evening and close the next morning. As the common name, hardshell, suggests, their woody shells are hard--ranging up to more than an inch thick when the growing season is long enough. On the vine, the developing hardshell is green, sometimes mottled with light and dark stripes. Dried, they are brown or tan. Hardshells will last thousands of years--they have been found in the pyramids in Egypt and in caves high in the Andes. Many get their names from their traditional uses or their shapes. |
