By More than 60 varieties of gourds and calabashes, shaped like acorns, hourglasses and pears, with „warts” or „fingers,” are part of the collection of the Buzau Plant Genetic Resources Bank (BRGV), symbols of autumn closely associated with the rural world of times gone by.
Gourds and calabashes, climbing plants belonging to the cucurbit family, are mainly used for decorative purposes, with unusual shapes and a rind that becomes hard over time, allowing them to be preserved for long periods. The best-known shape of calabashes is that of an hourglass or the number eight (8). Before the advent of plastic and mass-produced glass, calabashes were commonplace in rural households, where they were used instead of bottles and funnels and commonly used to store seeds or salt. They could also be turned into musical instruments or decorative lamps.
„We have more than 60 such stabilised varieties in the Bank, each with distinctive characteristics. The species commonly known as the calabash was…
