Also known as powderhorn gourds (Cucurbita sp.), the 10- to 16-inch-tall, crook-neck fruit is especially popular with crafters for creating fanciful penguins, round-bellied Santa figures, and ...

Swan, dipper, and penguin gourds are also bottle-type gourds. I’ve heard that they’re edible when very small and immature, but I haven’t had the chance to confirm this myself.

The results indicated that pointed gourds coated with chitosan and clove essential oil exhibited minimal changes in appearance and the lowest weight loss, increasing only from 0.05% to 0.82%.