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Gourd
Gourds are the fruits of plants of the same name that belong to the same family as cucumbers, squashes and luffas. Gourds are sub-tropical plants and grow throughout South East Asia, South America and Africa. They come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours. Gourds are very seldom used for culinary purposes and only in Asia, some varieties are actually cooked as vegetables, most famously perhaps the bitter gourd often used in the Chinese cuisine. When dried, the mostly thick hard shell of gourds, has an apperance similar to wood and leather and has been used as pots and storage devises long before clay has been found to be suitable for these uses. The hard shell of gourds also is also used for carvings, ornamental decorations and is often painted or vanished. They also make excellent resonating chambers or rattles in tribal instruments, including drums and string instruments.