A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae

Cucurbitaceae

The plant family Cucurbitaceae consists of various squashes, melons, and gourds, including crops such as cucumber, pumpkins, luffas, and watermelons...

. Gourd is occasionally used to describe crops like cucumbers, squash, luffas

Luffa

The luffa, loofah, or lufah are tropical and subtropical vines comprising the genus Luffa, the only genus of the subtribe Luffinae of the plant family Cucurbitaceae...

, and melons. The term 'gourd' however, can more specifically, refer to the plants of the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria

Lagenaria

Lagenaria is a genus of gourd bearing vines from the family Cucurbitaceae, also known as the "Squash" family. It contains at least seven species, one of which is known as the Calabash . Its species fruit can either be harvested young and used as a vegetable or harvested mature, dried, and used as...

and Cucurbita

Cucurbita

Cucurbita is a genus in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae first cultivated in Mesoamerica and now used in many parts of the world. It includes species grown for their fruit and edible seeds , as well as some species grown only as gourds...

or also to their hollow dried out shell. The hard-rinded fruits can have carving done to create scenes raised in relief. Painting and wood burning are also used to decorate the shells.