Bottle gourd (Hyotan) - bottle gourd (English spelling)

Japanese: ヒョウタン(瓢簞) - ヒョウタン（英語表記）bottle gourd

An annual plant of the Cucurbitaceae family (illustration). A variety of bottle gourd, its fruit is popular for its ornamental value and for shade, and has long been used as a container for wine and water. It is thought to have originated in Africa, but is now widely cultivated from tropical to temperate regions. The cultivation and use of bottle gourds has been known for a very long time, and there is no other plant that has been cultivated for such a long time in both the Old and New Worlds. It is a vine with stems, leaves and flowers very similar to those of bottle gourds, and the flowers bloom in the evening and wilt the next morning.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

ウリ科の一年草（イラスト）。ユウガオの変種でその果実は観賞用や日よけ用として親しまれ，また古くから酒や水の容器として用いられてきた。おそらくアフリカの原産と考えられるが，現在は熱帯から温帯地方にかけて広く栽培される。ヒョウタンの栽培や利用はきわめて古くから知られており，新大陸と旧大陸にわたって，古くから栽培されていた植物はほかに例がない。つる草で茎葉や花はユウガオによく似ていて，花は夕方咲き，翌朝しぼむ。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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