# Why are Gourds Poisonous? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2001, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gourds-poisonous/94927 "2001-11-23T18:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![don\_willard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@don\_willard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_willard)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gourds-poisonous/94927/1 "2001-11-23T18:10:00Z")
I’ve always known that gourds are inedible and I know someone who ate a gourd and threw up. Why would something so close to a squash be poisonous? Also they are easy to grow. (Such bad form for Nature to make something easy to grow poisonous!) Signed, Wondering About The Cucurbitaceae ---
**Author:** ![Venoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gourds-poisonous/94927/2 "2001-11-23T18:24:52Z")
Nightshade, being a relative the ubiqutous tomatoes and potatoes (and eggplant!) is deadly. 'Maters aren’t. Same sort of thing, Nature’s just playing keep away. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2001, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-gourds-poisonous/94927/3 "2001-11-23T18:35:29Z")
In the future, if you suspect you have posted in the wrong forum please e-mail a moderator to move the thread for you instead of reposting. The GQ version is here: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=100567](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=100567) bibliophage moderator GQ