There are many different types of gourds worldwide. The main plants referred to as gourds include several species from the genus Cucurbita 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, thought to be originally from Africa but present worldwide.[4][a] Other plants with gourd in their name include the luffa gourd likely domesticated in Asia, which includes several species from the genus Luffa, 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
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