Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council Plants Resource Page

Plant of the Month - Calabazilla

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Plant Description

Common Name(s):Calabazilla
Scientific Name:Cucurbita foetidissima
Family:Cucurbitaceae (Gourd)
Plant Type:Perennial Vine
Size:spreading to 25 feet
Habitat:Sandy soil
Blooms:June to August
Fire Response:Stump Sprout or Seed

Calabazilla takes its common name from the spanish word for the squash plant, calabaza. Like our garden squash and other gourds, calabazilla has long trailing vines that branch out widely. The large, bright yellow flowers appear in both sexes on the same plant, with the male flowers being more showy and larger and the female flowers giving way to the gourd that follows. The odorous foliage, flower and gourd are covered in hairs. The leaves are quite large, up to 10 inches long, grayish blue and triangle-shaped. The male flowers are bell-shaped with 5 sepals and are up to 5 inches long. It blooms throughout the summer, from May through September. The gourd is inedible, about 4 inches in diameter, and smooth and green with white stripes.

This sprawling plant (20 foot trailing stems from the main root) is supported underground by a root that may grow to ten feet in length, twelve inches in diameter and weigh more than 160lbs!

You may recall another species of the gourd family featured in this Plant of the Month page a few months back, Wild Cucumber (Marah mmacrocarpus). In addition to the viney appearance, both plants share in common a very large root.

Native people found several uses for this plant, including using the root or pulp for curing skin ailments, the fruit as a soap, and the hull of the gourd for anything from rattles to utensils.

Contributed by Liz Baumann


Calabazilla - Originally featured: July 2007
Last modified: March 06 2019 11:17:51.
References:
Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains, by Milt McAuley
Flowering Plants: The Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal and Chaparral Regions of Southern California, by Nancy Dale
Chumash Ethnobotany: Plant Knowledge Among the Chumash People.., by Jan Timbrook
Images Botanical Terms for Leaves