<P> The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without . Likely one of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC . Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, and food . </P> <P> Gourd is occasionally used to describe crop plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, like pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, luffa, and melons . More specifically, gourd refers to the fruits of plants in the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita, or also to their hollow, dried - out shell . A gourd can also have a hard shell when dehydrated . </P> <P> There are many different gourds worldwide . The main plants referred to as gourds include several species from the Cucurbita genus (mostly native to North America, including the Malabar gourd and turban squash), Crescentia cujete (the tree gourd or calabash tree, native to the American tropics) and Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd). Other plants with gourd in their name include the luffa gourd (likely domesticated in Asia), which includes several species from the Luffa genus, as well as the wax gourd, snake gourd, teasel gourd, hedgehog gourd, buffalo gourd / coyote gourd . The bitter melon / balsam apple / balsam pear is also sometimes referred to as a gourd . </P> <P> L. siceraria was brought to Europe and the Americas very early in history, being found in Peruvian archaeological sites dating from 13,000 to 11,000 BC and Thailand sites from 11,000 to 6,000 BC . A study of bottle gourd DNA published in 2005 suggests that there are two distinct subspecies of bottle gourds, domesticated independently in Africa and Asia, the latter approximately 4,000 years earlier . The gourds found in the Americas appear to have come from the Asian subspecies, very early in history; a new study now indicates Africa . The archaeological and DNA records show it likely that the gourd was among the first domesticated species, in Asia between 12,000 and 13,000 BP, and possibly the first domesticated plant species . </P>

Where are gourds largely produced in the us