If you want an eye-grabbing, evergreen ornamental plant for your landscape, the calabash tree (Crescentia cujete), known in Hawai'i as the la'amia, is your "lock" of the season (yes, I'm excited about UH football tomorrow).

With its continually emerging flowers and subsequent fruit, the gourds that hang like Christmas ornaments, la'amia creates a focal point in the garden or as a riveting specimen near a deck or patio.

Native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and northern South America, la'amia probably have been cultivated for more than 600 years.

Relatively fast-growing, la'amia have a short, straight trunk with an open crown of contorted, horizontal or rising branches. They will grow at sea level, up to an altitude of about 2,300 feet. The four- to six-inch-long elliptical leaves are bright green and create a moderate shade cover.

Cup-shaped, isolated flowers that erupt directly from branches are white or cream-colored and have a fetid smell. The globose or ovalish gourd (called a capsule in botany-speak) has a hard, smooth shell and fleshy pulp. The gourds mature and ripen slowly, remaining on the tree for several months, turning yellowish as they age. Seeds are egg-shaped and flattish, with a dark brown coat, furrowed with dots and opaque.

Outside of Hawai'i, fibers from la'amia were braided into twine and ropes. The hard wood was carved into tools and tool handles, and the split wood was woven into sturdy baskets. Small branches were fashioned into switches for disciplining children across the knuckles.

There are abundant traditional and historical medicinal applications of the fruit juice. In Haiti and St. Lucia, it is used to treat inflammation, trauma and diarrhea. It's a purgative in Costa Rica. In Venezuela, it is used to treat tumors and hematomas.

But the fruit capsules, the gourds, are the center of attention. They are used as containers and cups, and to make arts and crafts. Paddlers use them to bail out canoes and to scoop fresh water. The Taino of the Caribbean would cut eye holes in the gourds and fit them over their heads and wade out into lakes or the ocean — the appearance of the floating gourd did not alarm or frighten birds. The camouflaged hunters then could grab birds by their legs.

Carib Indians of Dominica would carve intricate designs into the woody gourds during the fruit's softer green phase. When dry, the la'amia gourds were permanently etched with these ornate motifs.

The Taino also turned the gourds into two rhythm instruments — maracas and the guiro. Maracas were fashioned from small oval gourds with pebbles or hard seeds such as rosary peas inside. In Hawai'i, the body of the modern 'uli'uli is customized from the la'amia gourd. Seeds of the introduced yellow or red flowered canna lily, ali'ipoe, are used to produce the rattling sound.

La'amia have a deep root system and are resistant to drought. No pests or major diseases are of major concern, but Chinese rose beetles and a leaf-webbing caterpillar occasionally will be bothersome.

You can bet on la'amia as a guaranteed winner during any season in your Hawaiian garden.

Duane Choy, a Hawai'i native-plant specialist, is a consultant for nonprofit organizations involved primarily with environmental missions. Reach him at hanahou@ecologyfund.net.