Tendrils of the ipu vine
attach themselves to a log. | Lagenaria siceraria -- Ipu, or gourd.
Ipu is a wide spreading annual vine with tendrils which help it to climb. Leaves are large, 4 to 6 inches across, with five angles or points. Flowers are night blooming, only one per leaf axil. The skin of the fruit is first green, then turns beige with maturity.
Gourds were used as containers for food and water, as well as musical instruments. In the last one hundred years, both wooden bowls and ipu gourd containers have been made much less frequently.
At one time Hawaiians raised ipu nui, or large gourds more than 3 feet in length! Ipu are now more difficult to grow because the recent introduction of fruit flies. Photos by Priscilla Millen.
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