Editing Calabash (section)

=== South America ===
In Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and southern Brazil, calabash gourds are dried and carved into ''mates'' (from the [[Quechua language|Quichua]] word ''mathi'',<ref>{{cite book|last=Lara|first=Jesus|date=1971|title=Diccionario Qhëshwa—Castellano Castellano—Qhëshwa|location=Cochabamba|publisher=Editorial Los Amigos del Libro|page=171}}</ref> adopted into the Spanish language), the traditional container for [[Mate (beverage)|mate]], the caffeinated, tea-like drink brewed from the [[yerba mate]] plant. In the region the beverage itself is called ''mate'' as well as the calabash from which the drinking vessels are made. In Peru it is used in a popular practice for the making of [[mate burilado]]; "''burilado''" is the technique adopted for decorating the ''mate'' calabashes.

<gallery>
File:Lagenaria siceraria mate fruits from accesion.jpg|''L. siceraria'' "''mate''" type
File:6-porongo.jpg|Calabash used as a container for drinking ''[[Mate (drink)|mate]]'' with a metal ''[[bombilla]]''
File:Tipos de mate (recipiente).jpg|''Mate'' carved and decorated as a drinking container (also called ''mate'', and the infusion also called ''mate'')
File:Lagenaria siceraria - Mates Burilados Carved Gourds - Cusco, Perú detail.jpg|''[[Mate burilado]]'' in Peru 
</gallery>

In Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador calabash gourds are used for medicinal purposes. The [[Inca]] culture applied symbols from folklore to gourds, this practice is still familiar and valued.