Communal living on the calabash

The calabash, like mango trees and a number of other species, is a magnet for orchids and bromeliads that colonize its branches readily, creating a fascinating eco-system on our single tree that includes mosses, half a dozen orchid species and one or two bromeliads. The unusual appearance of the tree is because the leaves grow straight out of the main branches. Those branches become entwined by the roots of orchids that use it for support.  All these other plants that take up residence are epiphytes, not parasites, living on the tree but not taking anything from it or causing other harm.

The large calabash gourds contain a greyish pulp and seeds that are not edible; it is scraped out and then the gourd boiled and cured for use as a drinking bowl. Our gift shop contains a number of gourds carved with the images of Mayan gods by Fileon Choc from Pueblo Viejo close to the Guatemalan border. The five pointed orchid is “Epidendrum nocturnum”

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