View source for Cucurbita

{{Short description|Genus of herbaceous plants}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Italic title}}
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{{Automatic taxobox
| name=Squash
| image=Squashes at Kew Gardens IncrEdibles 2013.jpg
| image2=Cultivated Cucurbita of Canada.jpg
| image2_caption=Lengthwise section of a ''[[Cucurbita pepo|C. pepo]]'' pumpkin with the fine-textured flesh favored for making [[pumpkin pie]]
| image_caption=''Cucurbita'' fruits come in an assortment of colors and sizes.
| image_alt=Various sizes, shapes, and colors of ''Cucurbita''
| taxon=Cucurbita
| authority=[[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
| synonyms =
* ''Melopepo'' <small>[[Philip Miller|Mill.]]</small>
* ''Ozodycus'' <small>[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Raf.]]</small>
* ''Pepo'' <small>Mill.</small>
* ''Pileocalyx'' <small>Gasp.</small>
* ''Sphenantha'' <small>[[Heinrich Schrader (botanist)|Schrad.]]</small>
* ''Tristemon'' <small>[[George Heinrich Adolf Scheele|Scheele]]</small>
| synonyms_ref=<ref>{{cite POWO |id=13252-1 |title=''Cucurbita'' L. |access-date=16 November 2024}}</ref>
}}

{{langnf|la|'''Cucurbita'''|[[gourd]]}}<ref name="burrows" /><ref name="gledhill">{{cite book |last=Gledhill |first=David |year=2008 |title=The Names of Plants |url=https://archive.org/details/namesplants00gled_746 |url-access=limited |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=[[Cambridge]] |isbn=978-0521866453 |page=[https://archive.org/details/namesplants00gled_746/page/n136 127]}}</ref> is a [[genus]] of [[Herbaceous plant|herbaceous]] [[fruit]]s in the gourd [[family (biology)|family]], [[Cucurbitaceae]] (also known as ''cucurbits'' or ''cucurbi''), native to the [[Andes]] and [[Mesoamerica]]. Five edible species are grown and consumed for their flesh and seeds. They are variously known as '''squash''',<!--REDIRECT TARGET from "Squash fruit"--> [[pumpkin]], or gourd, depending on species, [[Variety (botany)|variety]], and local parlance.{{efn|Due to wide variation in how the terms squash, pumpkin, and gourd are used, even among academics, in this article, the term squash can refer to any member of the genus ''Cucurbita''. Pumpkin and gourd are used to refer to species, varieties, and cultivars commonly referred to by those terms.<ref name="Ferriol">{{cite book |last1=Ferriol |first1=María |last2=Picó |first2=Belén |year=2007 |title=Handbook of Plant Breeding: Vegetables I |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |location=New York |chapter=3 |isbn=978-0-387-72291-7 |page=317 |quote=The common terms "pumpkin", "squash", "gourd", "cushaw", "ayote", "zapallo", "calabaza", etc. are often applied indiscriminately to different cultivated species of the New World genus ''Cucurbita'' L. (Cucurbitaceae): ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' L., ''C.&nbsp; maxima'' Duchesne, ''C.&nbsp;moschata'' Duchesne, ''C.&nbsp;argyrosperma'' C.&nbsp;Huber and ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'' Bouché.}}</ref>}} Other kinds of gourd, also called bottle-gourds, are native to Africa and belong to the genus ''[[Lagenaria]]'', which is in the same family and subfamily as ''Cucurbita'', but in a different [[Tribe (biology)|tribe]]; their young fruits are eaten much like those of the ''Cucurbita'' species.

There is debate about the [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] of the genus and the number of accepted species varies from 13 to 30. The five [[Domestication#Plants|domesticated]] species are ''[[Cucurbita argyrosperma]]'', ''[[Cucurbita ficifolia|C.&nbsp;ficifolia]]'', ''[[Cucurbita maxima|C.&nbsp;maxima]]'', ''[[Cucurbita moschata|C.&nbsp;moschata]]'', and ''[[Cucurbita pepo|C.&nbsp;pepo]],'' all of which can be treated as [[winter squash]] because the full-grown fruits can be stored for months. However, ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' includes some [[cultivar]]s that are better used only as [[summer squash]].

Most ''Cucurbita'' species are herbaceous vines that grow several meters in length and have [[tendril]]s, but non-vining "bush" cultivars of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' and ''C.&nbsp;maxima'' have also been developed. The yellow or orange flowers on a ''Cucurbita'' plant are of two types: [[Sexual_reproduction#Flowering_plants|female and male]]. The female flowers produce the fruit and the male flowers produce [[pollen]]. Many North and Central American species are visited by specialist [[Apidae|bee]] [[pollinator]]s, but other insects with more general feeding habits, such as [[honey bee]]s, also visit.

The fruits of the genus ''Cucurbita'' are good sources of [[nutrient]]s, such as [[vitamin A]] and [[vitamin C]], among other nutrients according to species. The fruits have many culinary uses including [[pumpkin pie]], [[biscuit]]s, [[bread]], [[dessert]]s, [[pudding]]s, [[Drink|beverages]], and [[soup]]s; they are now [[Columbian exchange|cultivated worldwide]]. Although botanical fruits, ''Cucurbita'' gourds such as squash are typically cooked and eaten as [[vegetable]]s. Pumpkins see more varied use, and are eaten both as vegetables and as desserts such as pumpkin pie.

== Description ==

''Cucurbita'' species fall into two main groups. The first group consists of [[annual plant|annual]] or short-lived [[perennial plant|perennial]] vines which are [[mesophyte|mesophytic]], meaning they require a more or less continuous water supply. The second group are [[perennial plant|perennials]] growing in arid zones which are [[xerophyte|xerophytic]], meaning they tolerate dry conditions. Cultivated ''Cucurbita'' species were derived from the first group. Growing {{convert|5|to|15|m|ft|round=5|abbr=off|sp=us}} in height or length, the plant stem produces [[tendril]]s to help it climb adjacent plants and structures or extend along the ground. Most species do not readily root from the nodes; a notable exception is ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'', and the four other cultivated mesophytes do this to a lesser extent. The vine of the perennial ''Cucurbita'' can become semiwoody if left to grow. There is wide variation in size, shape, and color among ''Cucurbita'' fruits, and even within a single species. ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'' is an exception, being highly uniform in appearance.<ref name="nee">{{cite journal | last1=Nee | first1=Michael | year=1990 | title=The Domestication of ''Cucurbita'' (Cucurbitaceae) | journal=[[Economic Botany]] | volume=44 | issue=3, Supplement: New Perspectives on the Origin and Evolution of New World Domesticated Plants | pages=56–68 | publisher=[[New York Botanical Garden|New York Botanical Gardens Press]] | location=New York | jstor=4255271| doi=10.1007/BF02860475 | bibcode=1990EcBot..44S..56N | s2cid=40493539 }}</ref> The [[Morphology (biology)|morphological]] variation in the species ''C.&nbsp;pepo''<ref name="deckerwalters">{{cite journal | last1=Decker-Walters | first1=Deena S. | last2=Staub | first2=Jack E. | last3=Chung | first3=Sang-Min | last4=Nakata  | first4=Eijiro  | last5=Quemada | first5=Hector D. | year=2002 | title=Diversity in Free-Living Populations of ''Cucurbita pepo'' (Cucurbitaceae) as Assessed by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA | journal=[[Systematic Botany]] | volume=27 | issue=1 | pages=19–28 | publisher=[[American Society of Plant Taxonomists]] | jstor=3093892 }}</ref> and ''C.&nbsp;maxima''<ref name="maximadiffspecies">{{cite journal|last=Millán|first=R.|title= Variaciones del Zapallito Amargo ''Cucurbita andreana'' y el Origen de ''Cucurbita maxima''|journal=[[:es:Revista Argentina de Agronomía|Revista Argentina de Agronomía]] |year=1945|volume= 12|pages=86–93|language=es}}</ref> is so vast that its various [[subspecies]] and cultivars have been misidentified as totally separate species.<ref name="deckerwalters" />

The typical cultivated ''Cucurbita'' species has five-lobed or [[Leaf shape|palmately divided]] leaves with long [[Petiole (botany)|petioles]], with the leaves alternately arranged on the stem. The stems in some species are angular. All of the above-ground parts may be hairy with various types of [[trichome]]s, which are often hardened and sharp. Spring-like tendrils grow from each [[Plant stem|node]] and are branching in some species. ''C.&nbsp;argyrosperma'' has ovate-cordate (egg-shaped to heart-shaped) leaves. The shape of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' leaves varies widely. ''C.&nbsp;moschata'' plants can have light or dense [[Leaf#Surface|pubescence]]. ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'' leaves are slightly angular and have light pubescence. The leaves of all four of these species may or may not have white spots.<ref name="saade" />

The species are [[monoecious]], with unisexual male ([[stamen|staminate]]) and female ([[pistil]]late) flowers on a single plant and these grow singly, appearing from the [[Axillary bud|leaf axils]]. Flowers have five fused yellow to orange petals (the [[petal#Corolla|corolla]]) and a green bell-shaped [[Sepal|calyx]]. Male flowers in Cucurbitaceae generally have five stamens, but in ''Cucurbita'' there are only three, and their [[anther]]s are joined so that there appears to be one.<ref name="Mabberley">{{cite book |last=Mabberley |first=D. J. |year=2008 |title=The Plant Book: A Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-82071-4 |page=235}}</ref><ref name="eflora">{{cite web |last1=Lu |first1=Anmin |last2=Jeffrey |first2=Charles |work=Flora of China |title=''Cucurbita'' Linnaeus |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=108644 |access-date=February 21, 2015 |archive-date=September 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906013041/http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=108644 |url-status=live }}</ref> Female flowers have thick [[Pedicel (botany)|pedicels]], and an [[inferior ovary]] with 3–5 [[Stigma (botany)|stigmas]] that each have two lobes.<ref name="saade" /><ref name="ucla" /> The female flowers of ''C.&nbsp;argyrosperma'' and ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'' have larger corollas than the male flowers.<ref name="saade" /> Female flowers of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' have a small calyx, but the calyx of ''C.&nbsp;moschata'' male flowers is comparatively short.<ref name="saade" />

''Cucurbita'' fruits are large and fleshy.<ref name=Mabberley/> Botanists classify the ''Cucurbita'' fruit as a [[Berry (botany)#Modified berries|pepo]], which is a special type of [[Berry (botany)|berry]] derived from an inferior ovary, with a thick outer wall or rind with [[hypanthium]] tissue forming an [[exocarp]] around the ovary, and a fleshy interior composed of [[mesocarp]] and [[endocarp]]. The term "pepo" is used primarily for Cucurbitaceae fruits, where this fruit type is common, but the fruits of ''[[Passiflora]]'' and ''[[Carica]]'' are sometimes also pepos.<ref name="hypanthium">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbotanical.com/fruit_types.htm |title=A Systematic Treatment of Fruit Types |publisher=Worldbotanical |access-date=October 10, 2013 |archive-date=July 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713022453/http://www.worldbotanical.com/fruit_types.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="schrager">{{cite book |last=Schrager|first=Victor |title=The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squash, and Gourds |publisher=Artisan |location=New York |year=2004 |page=25 |isbn=978-1-57965-251-7}}</ref> The seeds, which are attached to the ovary wall (parietal placentation) and not to the center, are large and fairly flat with a large embryo that consists almost entirely of two [[cotyledon]]s.<ref name="ucla" /> Fruit size varies considerably: wild fruit specimens can be as small as {{convert|4|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=off|sp=us}} and some domesticated specimens can weigh well over {{convert|300|kg|lb|abbr=off|sp=us}}.<ref name="saade" /> The current world record was set in 2014 by Beni Meier of [[Switzerland]] with a {{convert|2323.7|lb|kg|0|abbr=on|adj=on|order=flip}} pumpkin.<ref name="appumpkin">{{cite news |title=2014 – Beni Meier and his 2323.7 pound World Record Giant Pumpkin! |url=http://www.bigpumpkins.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=186&gid=62 |publisher=BigPumpkins.com |access-date=February 12, 2016 |date=2014 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025635/http://www.bigpumpkins.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=186&gid=62 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:Cucurbita moschata leaves.jpg|The leaves of ''[[Cucurbita moschata]]'' often have white spots near the veins.
File:Cucurbita 2011 G1 Large.jpg|Two bright orange ''C. pepo'' pumpkins, center right; the rest are squashes, ''C. maxima''
File:Red kuri squash plant trichomes.jpg|Stem, pedicel and fruit hairs of ''[[red kuri squash]]'' plant
</gallery>

=== Reproductive biology ===

[[File:Peponapis pruinosaCane-12.JPG|thumb|alt=Bee pollinating female ''Cucurbita'' flower|''Cucurbita'' female flower with pollinating [[squash bee]]s]]

All species of ''Cucurbita'' have 20 pairs of [[chromosome]]s.<ref name="rhodes">{{cite journal |last1=Rhodes |first1=A. M. |last2=Bemis |first2=W. P. |last3=Whitaker |first3=Thomas W. |last4=Carmer |first4=S. G. |year=1968 |title=A Numerical Taxonomic Study of ''Cucurbita'' |journal=[[Brittonia]] |publisher=[[New York Botanical Garden Press]] |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=251–266 |doi=10.2307/2805450 |jstor=2805450 |bibcode=1968Britt..20..251R |s2cid=6973668}}</ref>

Many North and Central American species are visited by specialist [[pollinator]]s in the [[Apidae|apid]] tribe [[Eucerini]], especially the genera ''[[Peponapis]]'' and ''[[Xenoglossa]]'', and these [[squash bee]]s can be crucial to the flowers producing fruit after pollination.<ref name="nee" /><ref name="hurd">{{cite journal |last1=Hurd |first1=Paul D. |last2=Linsley |first2=E. Gorton |year=1971 |title=Squash and Gourd Bees (''Peponapis'', ''Xenoglossa'') and the Origin of the Cultivated ''Cucurbita'' |journal=[[Evolution (journal)|Evolution]] |location=St. Louis, MO |publisher=Society for the Study of Evolution |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=218–234 |doi=10.2307/2406514 |jstor=2406514 |pmid=28562933}}</ref><ref name="whitbem">{{cite journal |last1=Whitaker |first1=Thomas W. |last2=Bemis |first2=W. P. |year=1964 |title=Evolution in the Genus ''Cucurbita'' |journal=Evolution |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=553–559 |doi=10.2307/2406209 |jstor=2406209}}</ref>

[[File:Cucurbita maxima Zapallo Plomo semillería Costanzi - flowers detail (masculine) - male flower, some petals and 1 filament removed.jpg|thumb|120px|alt=Male ''Cucurbita'' flower|Male flower, part of the perianth removed, arrows indicating nectar pores]]

When there is more pollen applied to the stigma, more seeds are produced in the fruits and the fruits are larger with greater likelihood of maturation,<ref name="winsor">{{Cite journal |last1=Winsor |first1=J. A. |last2=Davis |first2=L. E. |last3=Stephenson |first3=A. G. |year=1987 |title=The Relationship Between Pollen Load and Fruit Maturation and the Effect of Pollen Load on Offspring Vigor in ''Cucurbita pepo'' |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=129 |issue=5 |pages=643–656 |doi=10.1086/284664 |jstor=2461727 |s2cid=84901190}}</ref> an effect called [[xenia (plants)|xenia]]. Competitively grown specimens are therefore often hand-pollinated to maximize the number of seeds in the fruit.<ref name="rwrobinsoncross">{{cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Richard W. |year=2000 |title=Rationale and Methods for Producing Hybrid Cucurbit Seed |journal=Journal of New Seeds |volume=1 |issue=3–4 |pages=1–47 |doi=10.1300/J153v01n03_01 |s2cid=85158524}}</ref><ref name="stephenson">{{cite journal |last1=Stephenson |first1=Andrew G. |last2=Devlin |first2=B. |last3=Horton |first3=J. Brian |year=1988 |title=The Effects of Seed Number and Prior Fruit Dominance on the Pattern of Fruit Production in ''Cucurbita pepo'' (Zucchini Squash) |journal=Annals of Botany |volume=62 |issue=6 |pages=653–661 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a087705}}</ref> [[Parthenocarpy|Seedlessness]] is known to occur in certain cultivars of ''C.&nbsp;pepo''.<ref name="robinsonreiners">{{cite journal |last1=Robinson |first1=R. W. |last2=Reiners |first2=Stephen |date=July 1999 |title=Parthenocarpy in Summer Squash |url=http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/34/4/715.full.pdf |url-status=live |journal=HortScience |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=715–717 |doi=10.21273/HORTSCI.34.4.715 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106115239/http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/34/4/715.full.pdf |archive-date=2015-11-06 |access-date=2013-11-07 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="menezes">{{cite journal |last1=Menezes |first1=C. B. |last2=Maluf |first2=W. R. |last3=Azevedo |first3=S. M. |last4=Faria |first4=M. V. |last5=Nascimento |first5=I. R. |last6=Gomez |first6=L. A. |last7=Bearzoti |first7=E. |date=March 2005 |title=Inheritance of Parthenocarpy in Summer Squash (''Cucurbita pepo'' L.). |journal=Genetics and Molecular Research |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=39–46 |pmid=15841434}}</ref>

Critical factors in flowering and fruit set are physiological, having to do with the age of the plant and whether it already has developing fruit.<ref name="stapleton">{{cite journal |last1=Stapleton |first1=Suzanne Cady |last2=Wien |first2=H. Chris |last3=Morse |first3=Roger A. |year=2000 |title=Flowering and Fruit Set of Pumpkin Cultivars under Field Conditions |journal=HortScience |volume=35 |issue=6 |pages=1074–1077 |doi=10.21273/HORTSCI.35.6.1074 |issn=0018-5345 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The [[plant hormone]]s [[ethylene]] and [[auxin]] are key in fruit set and development.<ref name="martínez">{{cite journal |last1=Martínez |first1=Cecelia |last2=Manzano |first2=Susana |last3=Megías |first3=Zoraida |last4=Garrido |first4=Dolores |last5=Picó |first5=Belén |last6=Jamilena |first6=Manuel |year=2013 |title=Involvement of Ethylene Biosynthesis and Signalling in Fruit Set and Early Fruit Development in Zucchini Squash (''Cucurbita pepo'' L.) |journal=BMC Plant Biology |volume=13 |issue=139 |pages=139 |doi=10.1186/1471-2229-13-139 |issn=1471-2229 |pmc=3856489 |pmid=24053311 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Ethylene promotes the production of female flowers. When a plant already has a fruit developing, subsequent female flowers on the plant are less likely to mature, a phenomenon called "first-fruit dominance",<ref name="stapleton" /> and male flowers are more frequent, an effect that appears due to reduced natural ethylene production within the plant stem.<ref name="krupmick">{{Cite journal |last1=Krupnick |first1=Gary A. |last2=Brown |first2=Kathleen M. |last3=Stephenson |first3=Andrew G. |year=1999 |title=The Influence of Fruit on the Regulation of Internal Ethylene Concentrations and Sex Expression in ''Cucurbita texana'' |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |volume=160 |issue=2 |pages=321–330 |doi=10.1086/314120 |s2cid=85794143}}</ref> [[Ethephon]], a plant growth regulator product that is converted to ethylene after metabolism by the plant, can be used to increase fruit and seed production.<ref name="rwrobinsoncross" /><ref name="murray">{{cite journal |last=Murray |first=M. |year=1987 |title=Field Applications Of Ethephon For Hybrid And Open-Pollinated Squash (''Cucurbita'' Spp) Seed Production |journal=Acta Horticulturae |volume=201 |issue=201 |pages=149–156 |doi=10.17660/ActaHortic.1987.201.15}}</ref> Although ''Cucurbita'' species can generally produce healthy fruit after pollination from the same plant, [[inbreeding depression]] can significantly reduce seed number and fruit size.<ref>{{citation |author=Inácio, Cardoso |year=2004 |title=Depression by inbreeding after four successive self-pollination squash generations |journal=Scientia Agricola |volume=61 |doi=10.1590/S0103-90162004000200016 |hdl=11449/5322 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

The plant hormone [[gibberellin]], produced in the stamens, is essential for the development of all parts of the male flowers. The development of female flowers is not yet understood.<ref name="lange">{{cite journal |last1=Pimenta Lange |first1=Maria João |last2=Knop |first2=Nicole |last3=Lange |first3=Theo |year=2012 |title=Stamen-derived Bioactive Gibberellin is Essential for Male Flower Development of ''Cucurbita maxima'' L. |journal=Journal of Experimental Botany |volume=63 |issue=7 |pages=2681–2691 |doi=10.1093/jxb/err448 |pmc=3346225 |pmid=22268154}}</ref> Gibberellin is also involved in other developmental processes of plants, such as seed and stem growth.<ref name="sturt">{{cite web |title=Plant Hormones |url=http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/agriculture/production/3359/plant_hormones_answers.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116140049/http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/agriculture/production/3359/plant_hormones_answers.htm |archive-date=January 16, 2014 |access-date=January 15, 2014 |publisher=Charles Sturt University}}</ref>

==== Germination and seedling growth ====

[[File:Kabocha (GH) 21June2005 sown 14June.JPG|thumb|alt=Kabocha seedling at seven days age|[[Kabocha]] seedling seven days after being sown]]

Seeds with maximum [[germination]] potential develop (in ''C.&nbsp;moschata'') by 45 days after [[anthesis]], and seed weight reaches its maximum 70 days after anthesis.<ref name="wilsonma">{{Cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Mack A. |last2=Splittstoesser |first2=Walter E. |year=1980 |title=The Relationship Between Embryo Axis Weight and Reserve Protein During Development and Pumpkin Seed Germination |journal=Journal of Seed Technology |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=35–41 |jstor=23432821}}</ref> Some varieties of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' germinate best with eight hours of sunlight daily and a planting depth of {{convert|12|mm|in|frac=8|sp=us}}. Seeds planted deeper than {{convert|125|mm|in|frac=4|sp=us}} are not likely to germinate.<ref name="oliver">{{Cite journal |last1=Oliver |first1=Lawrence R. |last2=Harrison |first2=Steve A. |last3=McClelland |first3=Marilyn |year=1983 |title=Germination of Texas Gourd (''Cucurbita texana'') and Its Control in Soybeans (''Glycine max'') |journal=Weed Science |volume=31 |issue=5 |pages=700–706 |doi=10.1017/S0043174500070211 |jstor=4043694 |s2cid=182243467}}</ref> In ''C.&nbsp;foetidissima'', a weedy species, plants younger than 19 days old are not able to sprout from the roots after removing the shoots. In a seed batch with 90 percent germination rate, over 90 percent of the plants had sprouted after 29 days from planting.<ref name="horak">{{Cite journal |last1=Horak |first1=Michael J. |last2=Sweat |first2=Jonathan K. |year=1994 |title=Germination, Emergence, and Seedling Establishment of Buffalo Gourd (''Cucurbita foetidissima'') |journal=Weed Science |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=358–363 |doi=10.1017/S0043174500076621 |jstor=4045510 |s2cid=132074382}}</ref>

Experiments have shown that when more pollen is applied to the stigma, as well as the fruit containing more seeds and being larger (the xenia effect mentioned above), the germination of the seeds is also faster and more likely, and the seedlings are larger.<ref name="winsor" /> Various combinations of mineral nutrients and light have a significant effect during the various stages of plant growth. These effects vary significantly between the different species of ''Cucurbita''. A type of stored phosphorus called [[Phytic acid|phytate]] forms in seed tissues as spherical crystalline intrusions in protein bodies called [[Globoid (botany)|globoids]]. Along with other nutrients, phytate is used completely during seedling growth.<ref name="beecroft">{{cite journal |last1=Beecroft |first1=Penny |last2=Lott |first2=John N. A. |year=1996 |title=Changes in the Element Composition of Globoids From ''Cucurbita maxima'' and ''Cucurbita andreana'' Cotyledons During Early Seedling Growth |journal=Canadian Journal of Botany |volume=74 |issue=6 |pages=838–847 |doi=10.1139/b96-104|bibcode=1996CaJB...74..838B }}</ref> [[Heavy metal (chemistry)|Heavy metal]] contamination, including [[cadmium]], has a significant negative impact on plant growth.<ref name="subin">{{cite journal |last1=Subin |first1=M. P. |last2=Francis |first2=Steffy |year=2013 |title=Phytotoxic Effects of Cadmium on Seed Germination, Early Seedling Growth and Antioxidant Enzyme Activities in ''Cucurbita maxima'' Duchesne |journal=International Research Journal of Biological Sciences |volume=2 |issue=9 |pages=40–47 |doi=10.1139/b96-104|bibcode=1996CaJB...74..838B }}</ref> ''Cucurbita'' plants grown in the spring tend to grow larger than those grown in the autumn.<ref name="fenner2">{{cite journal |last1=Fenner |first1=G. P. |last2=Patteron |first2=G. W. |last3=Lusby |first3=W. R. |year=1989 |title=Developmental Regulation of Sterol Biosynthesis in ''Cucurbita maxima'' L. |journal=Lipids |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=271–277 |doi=10.1007/BF02535162 |s2cid=37220982}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
''Cucurbita'' was formally described in a way that meets the requirements of modern [[botanical nomenclature]] by [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] in his ''[[Genera Plantarum]]'',<ref name="generaname">{{cite book |chapter=Cucurbita |title=Genera Plantarum |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |first=Carl |last=Linnaeus |year=1754 |page=441 |volume=1 |publisher=Impensis Laurentii Salvii via [[Biodiversity Heritage Library]] |location=Stockholm |chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/14678#page/476/mode/1up |access-date=2018-02-20 |archive-date=2017-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001122929/http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/14678#page/476/mode/1up |url-status=live }}</ref> the fifth edition of 1754 in conjunction with the 1753 first edition of ''[[Species Plantarum]]''.<ref name="typename">{{cite book |chapter=Cucurbita |title=Species Plantarum |last=Linnaeus |first=Carl |year=1753 |publisher=Impensis Laurentii Salvii via Biodiversity Heritage Library |location=Stockholm |volume=2 |page=1010 |chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359031#page/452/mode/1up |access-date=2018-02-20 |archive-date=2017-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702060402/http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359031#page/452/mode/1up |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Cucurbita pepo'' is the [[type species]] of the genus.<ref name="typename" /><ref name="typespeciesnhm">{{cite journal |title=Cucurbita |journal=The Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project |year=2022 |url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/linnaean-typification/database/list.dsml?Genusqtype=starts+with&Genus=Cucurbita&Speciesqtype=starts+with&Species=pepo&Varqtype=starts+with&Var=&Ref=&CGenusqtype=starts+with&CGenus=&CSpeciesqtype=starts+with&CSpecies=&CSspqtype=starts+with&CSsp=&CVarqtype=starts+with&CVar=&Family=&sort=Genus%2CSpecies |publisher=Natural History Museum |doi=10.5519/qwv6u7j5 |access-date=November 4, 2013 |author1=Natural History Museum |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129044110/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/linnaean-typification/database/list.dsml?Genusqtype=starts+with&Genus=Cucurbita&Speciesqtype=starts+with&Species=pepo&Varqtype=starts+with&Var=&Ref=&CGenusqtype=starts+with&CGenus=&CSpeciesqtype=starts+with&CSpecies=&CSspqtype=starts+with&CSsp=&CVarqtype=starts+with&CVar=&Family=&sort=Genus%2CSpecies |url-status=live }}</ref> Linnaeus initially included the species ''C.&nbsp;pepo'', ''C.&nbsp;verrucosa'' and ''C.&nbsp;melopepo'' (both now included in ''C.&nbsp;pepo''), as well as ''C.&nbsp;citrullus'' (watermelon, now ''[[Citrullus lanatus]]'') and ''C.&nbsp;lagenaria'' (now ''[[Lagenaria siceraria]]'') (both are not ''Cucurbita'' but are in the family Cucurbitaceae.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=cucurbita |work=The Plant List |title=Cucurbita |access-date=1 January 2015 |archive-date=17 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190317222125/http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/search?q=Cucurbita |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ''Cucurbita digitata'', ''C.&nbsp;foetidissima'', ''C.&nbsp;galeotti'', and ''C.&nbsp;pedatifolia'' [[species group]]s are [[xerophytes]], arid zone perennials with storage roots; the remainder, including the five domesticated species, are all mesophytic annuals or short-life perennials with no storage roots.<ref name="nee" /><ref name="whitaker">{{cite journal |author1=Whitaker, T.W. |author2=Bemis, W.P. |year=1975 |title=Origin and Evolution of the Cultivated Cucurbita |journal=Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club |volume=102 |issue=6 |pages=362–368 |jstor=2484762 |doi=10.2307/2484762}}</ref> The five domesticated species are mostly isolated from each other by [[Reproductive isolation|sterility barriers]] and have different physiological characteristics.<ref name="whitaker" /> Some [[Allogamy|cross pollinations]] can occur: ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' with ''C.&nbsp;argyrosperma'' and ''C.&nbsp;moschata''; and ''C.&nbsp;maxima'' with ''C.&nbsp;moschata''. Cross pollination does occur readily within the family Cucurbitaceae.<ref name="janssen">{{cite web |url=http://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/articles/2006/curbits.shtml |title=Curbit Family & Cross-Pollination |publisher=University of Nebraska – Lincoln |last=Janssen |first=Don |date=August 14, 2006 |access-date=January 14, 2015 |archive-date=February 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213065650/http://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/articles/2006/curbits.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> The buffalo gourd (''C.&nbsp;foetidissima'') has been used as an intermediary, as it can be crossed with all the common ''Cucurbita''.<ref name="ucla" />

[[File:2006-10-18Cucurbita pepo06.jpg|thumb|alt=Several types and colors of ''Cucurbita''|An assortment of fruits of ''C.&nbsp;maxima'' and ''C.&nbsp;pepo'']]

Various [[taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] treatments have been proposed for ''Cucurbita'', ranging from 13 to 30 species.<ref name="burrows">{{cite book|last1=Burrows|first1=George E.|last2=Tyrl|first2=Ronald J.|title=Toxic Plants of North America|publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]]|year=2013|location=Oxford|pages=389–391|isbn=978-0-8138-2034-7}}</ref> In 1990, ''Cucurbita'' expert Michael Nee classified them into the following oft-cited 13 species groups (27 species total), listed by group and alphabetically, with geographic origin:<ref name="nee" /><ref name="grin">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?3164 |title=GRIN Species Records of Genus ''Cucurbita'' |author=GRIN |work=Taxonomy for Plants |publisher=[[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]], [[Agricultural Research Service|ARS]], National Genetic Resources Program |location=National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, [[Beltsville, Maryland]] |access-date=September 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924115025/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?3164 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |author-link=Germplasm Resources Information Network }}</ref><ref name="itis">{{ITIS |id=22365 |taxon=Cucurbita |access-date=September 1, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Goldman|first=Amy|title=The Compleat Squash: A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squash, and Gourds|year=2004|publisher=Artisan|location=New York|page=77|isbn=978-1-57965-251-7}}</ref>
* ''[[Cucurbita argyrosperma|C.&nbsp;argyrosperma]]'' ([[synonym (biology)|synonym]] ''C.&nbsp;mixta'') – cushaw pumpkin; origin: Mexico
** ''[[Cucurbita kellyana|C.&nbsp;kellyana]]'', origin: Pacific coast of western Mexico
** ''[[Cucurbita palmeri|C.&nbsp;palmeri]]'', origin: Pacific coast of northwestern Mexico
** ''[[Cucurbita sororia|C.&nbsp;sororia]]'', origin: Pacific coast Mexico to Nicaragua, northeastern Mexico
* ''[[Cucurbita digitata|C.&nbsp;digitata]]'' – fingerleaf gourd; origin: southwestern United States (USA), northwestern Mexico
** ''[[Cucurbita californica|C.&nbsp;californica]]''
** ''[[Cucurbita cordata|C.&nbsp;cordata]]''
** ''[[Cucurbita cylindrata|C.&nbsp;cylindrata]]''
** ''[[Cucurbita palmata|C.&nbsp;palmata]]''
* ''[[Cucurbita ecuadorensis|C.&nbsp;ecuadorensis]]'', origin: Ecuador's Pacific coast
* ''[[Cucurbita ficifolia|C.&nbsp;ficifolia]]'' – figleaf gourd, chilacayote, alcayota; origin: Mexico, Panama, northern Chile and Argentina
* ''[[Cucurbita foetidissima|C.&nbsp;foetidissima]]'' – stinking gourd, buffalo gourd; origin: Mexico
** ''[[Cucurbita scabridifolia|C.&nbsp;scabridifolia]]'', likely a [[natural hybrid]] of ''C.&nbsp;foetidissima'' and ''C.&nbsp;pedatifolia''<ref name="andres">{{cite journal |last=Andres |first=Thomas C. |year=1987 |title=Relationship of ''Cucurbita scabridifolia'' to ''C.&nbsp;foetidissima'' and ''C.&nbsp;pedatifolia'': A Case of Natural Interspecific Hybridization |url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc10/cgc10-38.html |journal=Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report |volume=10 |pages=74–75 |access-date=2013-09-02 |archive-date=2013-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053838/http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc10/cgc10-38.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="bailey">{{cite journal |last=Bailey |first=Liberty Hyde |author-link=Liberty Hyde Bailey |journal=Gentes Herbarum |volume=6 |pages=267–322 |year= 1943 |title=Species of ''Cucurbita''}}</ref>
* ''[[Cucurbita galeottii|C.&nbsp;galeottii]]'', little known; origin: [[Oaxaca]], Mexico
* ''[[Cucurbita lundelliana|C.&nbsp;lundelliana]]'', origin: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize
* ''[[Cucurbita maxima|C.&nbsp;maxima]]'' – winter squash, pumpkin; origin: Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador
** ''[[Cucurbita andreana|C.&nbsp;andreana]]'', origin – Argentina
* ''[[Cucurbita moschata|C.&nbsp;moschata]]'' – butternut squash, 'Dickinson' pumpkin, golden cushaw; origin: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela
* ''[[Cucurbita okeechobeensis|C.&nbsp;okeechobeensis]]'', origin: Florida
** ''[[Cucurbita martinezii|C.&nbsp;martinezii]]'', origin: Mexican Gulf Coast and foothills
* ''[[Cucurbita pedatifolia|C.&nbsp;pedatifolia]]'', origin: [[Querétaro]], Mexico
** ''[[Cucurbita moorei|C.&nbsp;moorei]]''
* ''[[Cucurbita pepo|C.&nbsp;pepo]]'' – field pumpkin, summer squash, zucchini, vegetable marrow, courgette, acorn squash; origin: Mexico, US
** ''[[Cucurbita fraterna|C.&nbsp;fraterna]]'', origin: [[Tamaulipas]] and [[Nuevo León]], Mexico
** ''[[Cucurbita texana|C.&nbsp;texana]]'', origin: [[Texas]], US
* ''[[Cucurbita radicans|C.&nbsp;radicans]]'' – calabacilla, calabaza de coyote; origin: Central Mexico
** ''[[Cucurbita gracilior|C.&nbsp;gracilior]]''

The taxonomy by Nee closely matches the species groupings reported in a pair of studies by a botanical team led by Rhodes and Bemis in 1968 and 1970 based on statistical groupings of several [[phenotype|phenotypic]] traits of 21 species. Seeds for studying additional species members were not available. Sixteen of the 21 species were grouped into five clusters with the remaining five being classified separately:<ref name="rhodes" /><ref name="bemis1970">{{cite journal | last1=Bemis | first1=W. P. | last2=Rhodes | first2=A. M. | last3=Whitaker  | first3=Thomas W. | last4=Carmer | first4=S. G.  | year=1970 | title=Numerical Taxonomy Applied to ''Cucurbita'' Relationships | journal=[[American Journal of Botany]] | volume=57 | issue=4 | pages=404–412 | jstor=2440868 | doi=10.2307/2440868}}</ref>
* ''C.&nbsp;digitata'', ''C.&nbsp;palmata'', ''C.&nbsp;californica'', ''C.&nbsp;cylindrata'', ''C.&nbsp;cordata''
* ''C.&nbsp;martinezii'', ''C.&nbsp;okeechobeensis'', ''C.&nbsp;lundelliana''
* ''C.&nbsp;sororia'', ''C.&nbsp;gracilior'', ''C.&nbsp;palmeri''; ''C.&nbsp;argyrosperma'' (reported as ''C.&nbsp;mixta'') was considered close to the three previous species
* ''C.&nbsp;maxima'', ''C.&nbsp;andreana''
* ''C.&nbsp;pepo'', ''C.&nbsp;texana''
* ''C.&nbsp;moschata'', ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'', ''C.&nbsp;pedatifolia'', ''C.&nbsp;foetidissima'', and ''C.&nbsp;ecuadorensis'' were placed in their own separate species groups as they were not considered significantly close to any of the other species studied.

===Phylogeny===
The full [[Phylogenetics|phylogeny]] of this genus is unknown, and research was ongoing in 2014.<ref name="gongpkl2">{{cite journal |last1=Gon g|first1=L. |last2=Pachner |first2=M. |last3=Kalai |first3=K. |last4=Lelley |first4=T. |journal=Genome |title=SSR-based Genetic Linkage Map of ''Cucurbita moschata'' and its Synteny With ''Cucurbita pepo'' |date=November 2008 |volume=51 |issue=11 |pages=878–887 |pmid=18956020 |doi=10.1139/G08-072}}</ref><ref name="gongskpl1">{{cite journal |last1=Gong |first1=L. |last2=Stift |first2= G. |last3=Koffler |first3=R. |last4=Pachner |first4=M. |last5=Lelley |first5=T. |journal=Theoretical and Applied Genetics |title=Microsatellites for the Genus ''Cucurbita'' and an SSR-based Genetic Linkage Map of ''Cucurbita pepo'' L. |date=June 2008 |volume=117 |issue=1 |pages=37–48 |pmid=18379753 |doi=10.1007/s00122-008-0750-2 |pmc=2413107}}</ref> The following [[cladogram]] of ''Cucurbita'' phylogeny is based upon a 2002 study of [[mitochondrial DNA]] by Sanjur and colleagues.<ref name="sanjur" />

{{clade| style=font-size:85%;line-height:85%;
    |1={{clade
        |1= ''[[Chayote|Sechium edule]]''
        |2={{clade
            |1=''[[Cucurbita ficifolia|C.&nbsp;ficifolia]]''
            |2={{clade
                 |1=''[[Cucurbita foetidissima|C.&nbsp;foetidissima]]''
                |2={{clade
                    |1={{clade
                        |1= ''[[Cucurbita maxima|C.&nbsp;maxima]]'' and ''[[Cucurbita andreana|C.&nbsp;andreana]]''
                        |2= ''[[Cucurbita ecuadorensis|C.&nbsp;ecuadorensis]]''
                        }}
                    |2={{clade
                         |1=''[[Cucurbita martinezii|C.&nbsp;martinezii]]''
                        |2= {{clade
                            |1=''[[Cucurbita pepo|C.&nbsp;pepo]]'' subspp. ''fraterna'' and ''ovifera''
                            |2= {{clade
                                |1=''[[Cucurbita pepo|C.&nbsp;pepo]]'' subsp. ''pepo''
                                |2= {{clade
                                    |1=''[[Cucurbita sororia|C.&nbsp;sororia]]'', in part
                                    |2= {{clade
                                        |1=''[[Cucurbita moschata|C.&nbsp;moschata]]''
                                        |2=''[[Cucurbita sororia|C.&nbsp;sororia]]'', in part and ''[[Cucurbita argyrosperma|C.&nbsp;argyrosperma]]''
                                        }}  
                                    }}
                                }}
                            }}
                       }}
                  }}
             }}
        }}
   }}
}}

==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:2009 Circleville Pumpkin Show champions.jpg|thumb|alt=Very large orange pumpkins| A festival-winning pumpkin in 2009 weighing {{convert|742|kg|lb|sp=us}}]]

The ancestral species of the genus ''Cucurbita'' were present in the Americas before the [[Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia|arrival of humans]],<ref name="bemiwhitaker">{{cite journal |last1=Bemis |first1=W. P. |last2=Whitaker |first2=Thomas W. |author-link2=Thomas W. Whitaker |date=April 1969 |title=The Xerophytic ''Cucurbita'' of Northwestern Mexico and Southwestern United States |journal=[[Madroño (journal)|Madroño]] |publisher=California Botanical Society |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=33–41 |jstor=41423342}}</ref><ref name="smith2006">{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Bruce D. |date=15 August 2006 |title=Eastern North America as an Independent Center of Plant Domestication |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=103 |issue=33 |pages=12223–12228 |bibcode=2006PNAS..10312223S |doi=10.1073/pnas.0604335103 |pmc=1567861 |pmid=16894156 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and are native to the [[Americas]]. The likely center of origin is southern Mexico, spreading south through what is now known as Mesoamerica, into South America, and north to what is now the southwestern United States.<ref name="bemiwhitaker" /> Evolutionarily speaking, the genus is relatively recent in origin, dating back to the [[Holocene]], whereas the family Cucurbitaceae, represented in ''[[Bryonia]]''-like seeds, dates to the [[Paleocene]].<ref name="Kubitzki2010">{{cite book |last=Kubitzki |first=Klaus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_hHvYeQYTTEC&pg=PA120 |title=Flowering Plants. Eudicots: Sapindales, Cucurbitales, Myrtaceae |date=2011 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-14397-7 |location=Heidelberg |pages=120–122 |quote=The fossil record of Cucurbitaceae and indeed of the order Cucurbitales is sparse.. The oldest fossils are seeds from the Uppermost Paleocene and Lower Eocene London Clay (65MA).. ''Bryonia''-like seeds from fossil beda at Tambov, Western Siberia date to the Lower Sarmat, 15–13 MA ago. Subfossil records of ''Cucurbita pepo'' have been dated to 8,000–7,000 B.C. at Guila Naquitz&nbsp;..., those of ''C. moschata'' in the northern Peruvian Andes to up to 9,200 B.P.}}</ref> Recent genomic studies support the idea that the ''Cucurbita'' genus underwent a whole-genome duplication event, increasing the number of chromosomes and accelerating the rate at which their genomes evolve relative to other cucurbits.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sun |first1=Honghe |last2=Wu |first2=Shan |last3=Zhang |first3=Guoyu |last4=Jiao |first4=Chen |last5=Guo |first5=Shaogui |last6=Ren |first6=Yi |last7=Zhang |first7=Jie |last8=Zhang |first8=Haiying |last9=Gong |first9=Guoyi |last10=Jia |first10=Zhangcai |last11=Zhang |first11=Fan |last12=Tian |first12=Jiaxing |last13=Lucas |first13=William J. |last14=Doyle |first14=Jeff J. |last15=Li |first15=Haizhen |last16=Fei |first16=Zhangjun |last17=Xu |first17=Yong |display-authors=5 |date=October 2017 |title=Karyotype Stability and Unbiased Fractionation in the Paleo-Allotetraploid Cucurbita Genomes |journal=Molecular Plant |volume=10 |issue=10 |pages=1293–1306 |doi=10.1016/j.molp.2017.09.003 |pmid=28917590 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Montero-Pau |first1=Javier |last2=Blanca |first2=José |last3=Bombarely |first3=Aureliano |last4=Ziarsolo |first4=Peio |last5=Esteras |first5=Cristina |last6=Martí-Gómez |first6=Carlos |last7=Ferriol |first7=María |last8=Gómez |first8=Pedro |last9=Jamilena |first9=Manuel |last10=Mueller |first10=Lukas |last11=Picó |first11=Belén |last12=Cañizares |first12=Joaquín |date=June 2018 |title=De novo assembly of the zucchini genome reveals a whole-genome duplication associated with the origin of the Cucurbita genus |journal=Plant Biotechnology Journal |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=1161–1171 |doi=10.1111/pbi.12860 |pmc=5978595 |pmid=29112324}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barrera-Redondo |first1=Josué |last2=Ibarra-Laclette |first2=Enrique |last3=Vázquez-Lobo |first3=Alejandra |last4=Gutiérrez-Guerrero |first4=Yocelyn T. |last5=Sánchez de la Vega |first5=Guillermo |last6=Piñero |first6=Daniel |last7=Montes-Hernández |first7=Salvador |last8=Lira-Saade |first8=Rafael |last9=Eguiarte |first9=Luis E. |date=April 2019 |title=The Genome of Cucurbita argyrosperma (Silver-Seed Gourd) Reveals Faster Rates of Protein-Coding Gene and Long Noncoding RNA Turnover and Neofunctionalization within Cucurbita |journal=Molecular Plant |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=506–520 |doi=10.1016/j.molp.2018.12.023 |pmid=30630074 |s2cid=58638439 |doi-access=free}}</ref> No species within the genus is entirely genetically isolated. ''C.&nbsp;moschata'' can intercross with all ''Cucurbita'' species, though the hybrid offspring may not be fertile unless they become [[polyploid]].<ref name="whitaker" />

Evidence of domestication of Cucurbita goes back over 8,000 years from the southernmost parts of Canada down to Argentina and Chile. Centers of domestication stretch from the Mississippi River watershed and Texas down through Mexico and Central America to northern and western South America.<ref name="nee" /> Of the 27 species that Nee delineates, five are domesticated. Four of these, ''C.&nbsp;argyrosperma'', ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'', ''C.&nbsp;moschata'', and ''C.&nbsp;pepo'', originated and were domesticated in [[Mesoamerica]]; the fifth, ''C.&nbsp;maxima'', originated and was domesticated in South America.<ref name="saade">{{cite web |last1=Saade |first1=R. Lira |last2=Hernández |first2=S. Montes |title=Cucurbits |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/1492/cucurbits.html |publisher=Purdue Horticulture |access-date=September 2, 2013 |archive-date=October 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009220541/https://hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/1492/cucurbits.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Within ''C.&nbsp;pepo'', the pumpkins, the [[Pattypan squash|scallops]], and possibly the crooknecks are ancient and were domesticated at different times and places. The domesticated forms of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' have larger fruits than non-domesticated forms and seeds that are larger but fewer in number.<ref name="paris1989" /> In a 1989 study on the origins and development of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'', botanist Harry Paris suggested that the original wild specimen had a small round fruit and that the modern pumpkin is its direct descendant. He suggested that the crookneck, ornamental gourd, and scallop are early variants and that the acorn squash is a cross between the scallop and the pumpkin.<ref name="paris1989" />

[[File:Cucurbita moschata Butternut 2012 G2.jpg|thumb|alt=Sliced butternut squash|''C.&nbsp;moschata'' 'Butternut']]

''C.&nbsp;argyrosperma'' is not as widespread as the other species. The wild form ''C. a.'' subsp. ''sororia'' is found from [[Mexico]] to [[Nicaragua]], and cultivated forms are used in a somewhat wider area stretching from Panama to the southeastern United States.<ref name="saade" /> It was probably bred for its seeds, which are large and high in [[Oil#Organic oils|oil]] and [[Protein (nutrient)|protein]], but its flesh is of poorer quality than that of ''C.&nbsp;moschata'' and ''C.&nbsp;pepo''. It is grown in a wide altitudinal range: from sea level to as high as {{convert|1800|m|ft|sp=us}} in dry areas, usually with the use of irrigation, or in areas with a defined rainy season, where seeds are sown in May and June.<ref name="saade" />

''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'' and ''C.&nbsp;moschata'' were originally thought to be Asiatic in origin, but this has been disproven. The origin of ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'' is Latin America, most likely southern Mexico, Central America, or the Andes. It grows at elevations ranging from {{convert|1000|to|3000|m|ft|sp=us}} in areas with heavy rainfall. It does not hybridize well with other cultivated species as it has significantly different enzymes and chromosomes.<ref name="saade" />

''C.&nbsp;maxima'' originated in South America over 4,000 years ago,<ref name="sanjur" /> probably in Argentina and Uruguay. The plants are sensitive to [[Frost#Effect on plants|frost]], and they prefer both bright sunlight and soil with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0.<ref name="uwis">{{cite web |title=''Cucurbita maxima'' Origin/ Habitat |url=http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/herman_jaci/habitat_geography.htm |publisher=University of Wisconsin |year=2007 |access-date=September 2, 2013 |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060145/http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/herman_jaci/habitat_geography.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> ''C.&nbsp;maxima'' did not start to spread into North America until after the arrival of Columbus. Varieties were in use by native peoples of the United States by the 16th century.<ref name="nee" /> Types of ''C.&nbsp;maxima'' include ''triloba'',<ref name="triloba">{{cite web|title=Holotype of ''Cucurbita maxima'' Duchesne var. ''triloba'' Millán [family CUCURBITACEAE]|url=http://plants.jstor.org/specimen/si001320|access-date=October 3, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> ''zapallito'',<ref name="anido">{{cite journal |last1=López-Anido |first1=F. |last2=Cravero |first2=V. |last3=Asprelli |first3=P. |last4=Cointry |first4=E. |last5=Firpo |first5=I. |last6=García |first6=S. M. |title=Inheritance of Immature Fruit Color in ''Cucurbita maxima'' var. ''zapallito'' (Carrière) Millán |url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc26/cgc26-15.pdf |journal=Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report |volume=26 |pages=48–50 |year=2003 |access-date=2013-10-03 |archive-date=2013-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220332/http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc26/cgc26-15.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> ''zipinka'',<ref name="zipinka">{{cite web |title=Holotype of ''Cucurbita maxima'' Duchesne var. ''zipinka'' Millán [family CUCURBITACEAE]|url=http://plants.jstor.org/specimen/si001321  |access-date=October 3, 2013}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Banana, Delicious, Hubbard, Marrow (''C.&nbsp;maxima'' Marrow), Show, and Turban.<ref name="robinson">{{cite book |last1=Robinson |first1=Richard Warren |last2=Decker-Walters |first2=D. S. |title=Cucurbits |year=1997 |publisher=[[CAB International]] |location=Oxfordshire, UK |pages=71–83 |isbn=978-0-85199-133-7}}</ref>

[[File:Cucurbita moschata 'Tromboncino'.jpg|thumb|alt=Curved green squashes|Fruit of the 'Tromboncino' cultivar of the Crookneck (''C.&nbsp;moschata'') [[cultivar group|Group]] are eaten either when very young, or as mature winter squash.]]

''C.&nbsp;moschata'' is native to Latin America, but the precise location of origin is uncertain.<ref name="wessel">{{cite journal |last=Wessel-Beaver |first=Linda |year=2000 |title=Evidence for the Center of Diversity of ''Cucurbita moschata'' in Colombia |url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc23/cgc23-16.html |journal=Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report |volume=23 |pages=54–55 |access-date=2013-09-04 |archive-date=2013-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004220329/http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc23/cgc23-16.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It has been present in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Peru for 4,000–6,000 years and has spread to Bolivia, Ecuador, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. This species is closely related to ''C.&nbsp;argyrosperma''. A variety known as the Seminole Pumpkin has been cultivated in Florida since before the arrival of Columbus. Its leaves are {{convert|20|to|30|cm|in|sp=us|0}} wide. It generally grows at low elevations in hot climates with heavy rainfall, but some varieties have been found above {{convert|2200|m|ft|sp=us}}.<ref name="saade" /> Groups of ''C.&nbsp;moschata'' include Cheese, Crookneck (''C.&nbsp;moschata''), and Bell.<ref name="robinson" />

''C.&nbsp;pepo'' is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, domesticated species with the oldest known locations being [[Oaxaca]], Mexico, 8,000–10,000 years ago, and [[Ocampo, Tamaulipas]], Mexico, about 7,000 years ago. It is known to have appeared in [[Missouri]], United States, at least 4,000 years ago.<ref name="nee" /><ref name="saade" /><ref name="tamu">{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=Hugh D. |publisher=Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group |url=http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/flcp/flcp3.htm |work=Free-living Cucurbita pepo in the United States Viral Resistance, Gene Flow, and Risk Assessment |title=What is ''Cucurbita texana''? |access-date=September 8, 2013 |archive-date=September 27, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927212331/http://botany.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/flcp/flcp3.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="gibbonames238" /> Debates about the origin of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' have been on-going since at least 1857.<ref name="kirkpatrick">{{cite journal | last1=Kirkpatrick  | first1=Kurt J. | last2=Wilson | first2=Hugh D. | year=1988 | title=Interspecific Gene Flow in ''Cucurbita'': ''C. texana'' vs. ''C. pepo'' | journal=[[American Journal of Botany]] | volume=75 | issue=4 | pages=519–527 | publisher=Botanical Society of America | doi=10.2307/2444217| jstor=2444217 }}</ref> There have traditionally been two opposing theories about its origin: 1) that it is a direct descendant of ''C.&nbsp;texana'' and 2) that ''C.&nbsp;texana'' is merely [[Feral organism|feral]] ''C.&nbsp;pepo''.<ref name="nee" /> A more recent theory by botanist Thomas Andres in 1987 is that descendants of ''C.&nbsp;fraterna'' hybridized with ''C.&nbsp;texana'',<ref name="andres2">{{cite journal |last=Andres |first=Thomas C. |year=1987 |title=''Cucurbita fraterna'', the Closest Wild Relative and Progenitor of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' |url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc10/cgc10-36.html |url-status=live |journal=Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report |volume=10 |pages=69–71 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053841/http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc10/cgc10-36.html |archive-date=2013-09-21 |access-date=2013-09-06}}</ref> resulting in two distinct domestication events in two different areas: one in Mexico and one in the eastern United States, with ''C.&nbsp;fraterna'' and ''C.&nbsp;texana'', respectively, as the ancestral species.<ref name="saade" /><ref name="sanjur" /><ref name="andres2" /><ref name="soltis">{{cite book|last1=Soltis|first1=Douglas E. |last2=Soltis |first2=Pamela S.|author-link2=Pamela S. Soltis|title=Isozymes in Plant Biology |page=176|location=London |publisher=Dioscorodes Press|year=1990|isbn=978-0-412-36500-3}}</ref> ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' may have appeared in the Old World before moving from Mexico into South America.<ref name="saade" /> It is found from sea level to slightly above {{convert|2000|m|ft|sp=us}}. Leaves have 3–5 lobes and are {{convert|20–35|cm|in|sp=us|0}} wide. All the subspecies, varieties, and [[cultivar]]s are [[Hybrid (biology)|interfertile]].<ref name="deckerwalters" /> In 1986 Paris proposed a revised taxonomy of the edible cultivated ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' based primarily on the shape of the fruit, with eight groups.<ref name="paris1989" /><ref name="paris1986" /> All but a few ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' cultivars can be included in these groups.<ref name="saade" /><ref name="paris1986">{{cite journal |last=Paris |first=Harry S. |journal=Phytologia |title=A Proposed Subspecific Classification for ''Cucurbita pepo'' |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/47050#page/145/mode/1up |year=1986 |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=133–138 |access-date=2018-01-13 |archive-date=2017-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728150825/http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/47050#page/145/mode/1up |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="mbccp">{{cite web |url=http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/a686/cucurbita-pepo.aspx |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |title=Cucurbita pepo |access-date=September 2, 2013 |archive-date=September 11, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130911064453/http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/plant-finder/plant-details/kc/a686/cucurbita-pepo.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="heistinger">{{cite book |last=Heistinger |first=Andrea |title=The Manual of Seed Saving: Harvesting, Storing, and Sowing Techniques for Vegetables, Herbs, and Fruits |publisher=Timber Press |location=Portland, OR|year=2013 |page=278 |isbn=978-1-60469-382-9}}</ref> There is one non-edible cultivated variety: ''C. pepo'' var. ''ovifera''.<ref name="decker">{{cite journal | last1=Decker | first1=Deena S. | last2=Wilson | first2=Hugh D. | year=1987 | title=Allozyme Variation in the ''Cucurbita pepo'' Complex: ''C. pepo'' var. ''ovifera'' vs. ''C. texana'' | journal=[[Systematic Botany]] | volume=12 | issue=2 | pages=263–273 | publisher=American Society of Plant Taxonomists | jstor=2419320 | doi=10.2307/2419320}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+A classification of cultivated ''C. pepo'' varieties based on Paris' eight groups and the one non-edible variety
|-
! [[Cultivar group]] !! Botanical name !! Image !! Description
|-
| Acorn || ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''turbinata'' || [[File:Starr 070730-7820 Cucurbita pepo.jpg|100px|alt=Green acorn squashes]] || Winter squash, both a shrubby and creeping plant, obovoid or conical shape, pointed at the apex and with longitudinal grooves, thus resembling a spinning top,<ref name="paris1986" /> ex: [[Acorn squash]]<ref name="saade" /><ref name="mbccp" /><ref name="heistinger" />
|-
| Cocozzelle || ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''Ionga'' || [[File:Cucurbita pepo Cocozelle fruits.jpg|100px|alt=Slender green Cocozzelle squash]] || Summer squash, long round slender fruit that is slightly bulbous at the apex,<ref name="paris1986" /> similar to ''fastigata'', ex: Cocozelle von tripolis<ref name="saade" /><ref name="mbccp" /><ref name="heistinger" />
|-
| Crookneck || ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''torticollia'' (also ''torticollis'') || [[File:Crooked Neck Squash.jpg|100px|alt=Yellow curved squash]] || Summer squash, shrubby plant, with yellow, golden, or white fruit which is long and curved at the end and generally has a verrucose (wart-covered) rind,<ref name="paris1986" /> ex: [[Crookneck squash]]<ref name="saade" /><ref name="mbccp" /><ref name="heistinger" />
|-
| Pumpkin || ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''pepo'' || [[File:Pumpkin 2 - Evan Swigart.jpg|75px|center|alt=Round orange pumpkin]] || Winter squash, creeping plant, round, oblate, or oval shape and round or flat on the ends,<ref name="paris1986" /> ex: [[Pumpkin]];<ref name="saade" /><ref name="mbccp" /><ref name="heistinger" /> includes ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' subsp. ''pepo'' var. ''styriaca'', used for Styrian [[pumpkin seed oil]]<ref name="fürnkranz">{{cite journal | last1=Fürnkranz | first1=Michael  | last2=Lukesch | first2=Birgit | last3=Müller | first3=Henry | last4=Huss | first4=Herbert | last5=Grube  | first5=Martin | last6=Berg | first6=Gabriele  | year=2012 | title=Microbial Diversity Inside Pumpkins: Microhabitat-Specific Communities Display a High Antagonistic Potential Against Phytopathogens | journal=[[Microbial Ecology (journal)|Microbial Ecology]] | volume=63 | issue=2 | pages=418–428 | publisher=Springer | jstor=41412429 | doi=10.1007/s00248-011-9942-4 | pmid=21947430 | bibcode=2012MicEc..63..418F | s2cid=16454305 }}</ref>
|-
| Scallop || ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''clypeata''; called ''C.&nbsp;melopepo'' by [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]]<ref name="deckerwalters" /> || [[File:Pattypan squash J1.jpg|100px|alt=Whitish round squash]] || Summer squash, prefers half-shrubby habitat, flattened or slightly discoidal shape, with undulations or equatorial edges,<ref name="paris1986" /> ex: [[Pattypan squash]]<ref name="saade" /><ref name="mbccp" /><ref name="heistinger" />
|-
| Straightneck || ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''recticollis'' || [[File:Cucurbita pepo Yellow Squash 3.jpg|100px|alt=Yellow straight squashes]] || Summer squash, shrubby plant, with yellow or golden fruit and verrucose rind, similar to var. ''torticollia'' but a stem end that narrows,<ref name="paris1986" /> ex: [[Straightneck squash]]<ref name="saade" /><ref name="mbccp" /><ref name="heistinger" />
|-
| Vegetable marrow || ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''fastigata'' || [[File:Spaghetti Squash 700.jpg|100px|alt=White oval squash]] || Summer and winter squashes, creeper traits and a semi-shrub, cream to dark green color, short round fruit with a slightly broad apex,<ref name="paris1986" /> ex: [[Spaghetti squash]] (a winter variety)<ref name="saade" /><ref name="mbccp" /><ref name="heistinger" />
|-
| Zucchini/Courgette || ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''cylindrica'' || [[File:Zucchini-Whole.jpg|100px|alt=Slender green squash]] || Summer squash, presently the most common group of cultivars, origin is recent (19th century), semi-shrubby, cylindrical fruit with a mostly consistent diameter,<ref name="paris1986" /> similar to ''fastigata'', ex: [[Zucchini]]<ref name="saade" /><ref name="mbccp" /><ref name="heistinger" />
|-
| Ornamental gourds || ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''ovifera'' || [[File:Cucurbita pepo var ovifera (crop).jpg|100px|alt=Squash that is that half yellow and half green]] || Non-edible,<ref name="decker" /> field squash closely related to ''C.&nbsp;texana'', vine habitat, thin stems, small leaves, three sub-groups: ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''ovifera'' (egg-shaped, pear-shaped), ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''aurantia'' (orange color), and ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' var. ''verrucosa'' (round warty gourds), ornamental gourds found in Texas and called var. ''texana'' and ornamental gourds found outside of Texas (Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana) are called var. ''ozarkana''<ref name="tamu" />
|}

== Ecology ==
''Cucurbita'' species are used as food plants by the [[larva]]e of some [[Lepidoptera]] species, including the [[cabbage moth]] (''Mamestra brassicae''), ''[[Hypercompe indecisa]]'', and the [[turnip moth]] (''Agrotis segetum'').<ref name="drugscom">{{cite web |year=2009 |title=Pumpkin |url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/pumpkin.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915155740/http://www.drugs.com/npp/pumpkin.html |archive-date=September 15, 2013 |access-date=September 1, 2013 |publisher=Drugs.com}}</ref> ''Cucurbita'' can be susceptible to the pest ''Bemisia argentifolii'' ([[silverleaf whitefly]])<ref name="mcauslane">{{cite journal |last1=McAuslane |first1=Heather J. |last2=Webb |first2=Susan E. |last3=Elmstrom |first3=Gary W. |date=June 1996 |title=Resistance in Germplasm of ''Cucurbita pepo'' to Silverleaf, a Disorder Associated with ''Bemisia argentifolii'' (Homoptera: Aleyrodidae) |url=http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/download/59206/56885 |url-status=live |journal=The Florida Entomologist |location=Lutz, FL |publisher=Florida Entomological Society |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=206–221 |doi=10.2307/3495818 |jstor=3495818 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921220047/http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/download/59206/56885 |archive-date=2017-09-21 |access-date=2018-04-20 |doi-access=free|url-access=subscription }}</ref> as well as aphids (''[[Aphididae]]''), [[cucumber beetle]]s (''Acalymma vittatum'' and ''[[Diabrotica undecimpunctata]] howardi''), squash bug (''[[Anasa tristis]]''), the [[squash vine borer]] (''Melittia cucurbitae''), and the two-spotted spidermite (''[[Tetranychus urticae]]'').<ref name="pestdisease">{{cite web |title=Vegetable Pumpkin |url=http://urbanext.illinois.edu/hortanswers/plantdetail.cfm?PlantID=629&PlantTypeID=9 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130820013036/http://urbanext.illinois.edu/hortanswers/plantdetail.cfm?PlantID=629&PlantTypeID=9 |archive-date=August 20, 2013 |access-date=October 20, 2013 |publisher=University of Illinois Extension}}</ref> The squash bug causes major damage to plants because of its very toxic saliva.<ref name="uflbug">{{cite web |title=Common Name: Squash Bug |url=http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/leaf/squash_bug.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029193419/http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/leaf/squash_bug.htm |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |access-date=October 26, 2013 |publisher=University of Florida}}</ref>
The [[red pumpkin beetle]] (''Aulacophora foveicollis'') is a serious pest of cucurbits, especially the pumpkin, which it can defoliate.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pumpkin beetle |url=https://www.indiaagronet.com/indiaagronet/pest_management/CONTENTS/pest%20cucurbits.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616184556/https://www.indiaagronet.com/indiaagronet/pest_management/CONTENTS/pest%20cucurbits.htm |archive-date=16 June 2016 |access-date=20 May 2016 |work=Pests of Cucurbits |publisher=IndiaAgroNet.com}}</ref>
[[Cucurbitaceae|Cucurbits]] are susceptible to diseases such as [[bacterial wilt]] (''Erwinia tracheiphila''), anthracnose (''[[Colletotrichum]]'' spp.), fusarium wilt (''[[Fusarium]]'' spp.), phytophthora blight (''[[Phytophthora]]'' spp. [[Oomycete|water molds]]), and powdery mildew (''[[Erysiphe]]'' spp.).<ref name="pestdisease" /> [[Plant defense against herbivory|Defensive responses]] to viral, fungal, and bacterial leaf [[pathogen]]s do not involve cucurbitacin.<ref name="tallamy">{{cite journal |last1=Tallamy |first1=Douglas W. |last2=Krischik |first2=Vera A. |year=1989 |title=Variation and Function of Cucurbitacins in Cucurbita: An Examination of Current Hypotheses |journal=[[The American Naturalist]] |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |volume=133 |issue=6 |pages=766–786 |doi=10.1086/284952 |jstor=2462036 |s2cid=84696664}}</ref>

Species in the genus ''Cucurbita'' are susceptible to some types of [[mosaic virus]] including: [[cucumber mosaic virus]] (CMV), [[papaya ringspot virus]]-cucurbit strain (PRSV), [[squash mosaic virus]] (SqMV), [[tobacco ringspot virus]] (TRSV),<ref name="illaces">{{cite web |title=Mosaic Diseases of Cucurbits |url=http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/pdf_pubs/926.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185018/http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/vista/pdf_pubs/926.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |access-date=October 26, 2013 |publisher=University of Illinois}}</ref> [[watermelon mosaic virus]] (WMV), and [[zucchini yellow mosaic virus]] (ZYMV).<ref name="farmnote">{{cite web |title=Virus Diseases of Cucurbit Crops |url=http://archive.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/hort/veg/pw/fn2006_viruscucurbits_bcoutts.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112044744/http://archive.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/hort/veg/pw/fn2006_viruscucurbits_bcoutts.pdf |archive-date=2014-11-12 |access-date=December 31, 2014 |publisher=Department of Agriculture, Government of Western Australia}}</ref><ref name="roossinck">{{cite journal |last1=Roossinck |first1=Marilyn J. |last2=Palukaitis |first2=Peter |year=1990 |title=Rapid Induction and Severity of Symptoms in Zucchini Squash (''Cucurbita pepo'') Map to RNA 1 of Cucumber Mosaic Virus |url=http://www.apsnet.org/publications/mpmi/backissues/Documents/1990Articles/Microbe03_188.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=188–192 |doi=10.1094/mpmi-3-188 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029191813/http://www.apsnet.org/publications/mpmi/backissues/Documents/1990Articles/Microbe03_188.pdf |archive-date=2013-10-29 |access-date=2013-10-26}}</ref><ref name="havelda">{{cite journal |last1=Havelda |first1=Zoltan |last2=Maule |first2=Andrew J. |date=October 2000 |title=Complex Spatial Responses to Cucumber Mosaic Virus Infection in Susceptible ''Cucurbita pepo'' Cotyledons |journal=Plant Cell |volume=12 |issue=10 |pages=1975–1986 |doi=10.1105/tpc.12.10.1975 |pmc=149134 |pmid=11041891|bibcode=2000PlanC..12.1975H }}</ref><ref name="cornell">{{cite web |date=October 1984 |title=Virus Diseases of Cucurbits |url=https://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Viruses_Cucurbits.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131117083315/http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/factsheets/Viruses_Cucurbits.htm |archive-date=November 17, 2013 |access-date=October 26, 2013 |publisher=Cornell University}}</ref> PRSV is the only one of these viruses that does not affect all cucurbits.<ref name="farmnote" /><ref name="provvidenti">{{cite journal |last1=Provvidenti |first1=R. |last2=Gonsalves |first2=D. |date=May 1984 |title=Occurrence of Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus in Cucurbits from Connecticut, New York, Florida, and California |url=http://www.apsnet.org/publications/PlantDisease/BackIssues/Documents/1984Articles/PlantDisease68n05_443.PDF |url-status=live |journal=Plant Disease |volume=68 |issue=5 |pages=443–446 |doi=10.1094/pd-69-443 |issn=0191-2917 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185841/http://www.apsnet.org/publications/PlantDisease/BackIssues/Documents/1984Articles/PlantDisease68n05_443.PDF |archive-date=2013-10-29 |access-date=2013-10-26}}</ref> SqMV and CMV are the most common viruses among cucurbits.<ref name="aggie">{{cite web |title=Squash |url=http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/vegetables/squash.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200818/http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/vegetables/squash.html |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |access-date=October 26, 2013 |publisher=Texas A&M University}}</ref><ref name="salma">{{cite journal |last1=Salama |first1=El-Sayed A. |last2=Sill |first2=W. H. Jr. |year=1968 |title=Resistance to Kansas Squash Mosaic Virus Strains Among Cucurbita Species |journal=Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=62–68 |doi=10.2307/3627399 |jstor=3627399}}</ref> Symptoms of these viruses show a high degree of similarity, which often results in laboratory investigation being needed to differentiate which one is affecting plants.<ref name="illaces" />

== Cultivation ==

=== History ===

[[File:Bnf Anne f161.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Early 1500s painting of squash plants and fruits|''[[Cucurbita pepo]]'' subsp. ''texana'', from the [[Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany]], 1503–1508, f. 161, earliest depiction of cucurbits in Europe]]
The genus was part of the culture of almost every native peoples group from southern South America to southern Canada.<ref name="smith2006"/> Modern-day cultivated ''Cucurbita'' are not found in the wild.<ref name="nee"/> Genetic studies of the [[mitochondrial gene]] ''[[nad1]]'' show there were at least six independent domestication events of ''Cucurbita'' separating domestic species from their wild ancestors.<ref name="sanjur">{{cite journal |last1=Sanjur |first1=Oris I. |last2=Piperno |first2=Dolores R. |last3=Andres  |first3=Thomas C.  |last4=Wessel-Beaver |first4=Linda |year=2002 |title=Phylogenetic Relationships among Domesticated and Wild Species of ''Cucurbita'' (Cucurbitaceae) Inferred from a Mitochondrial Gene: Implications for Crop Plant Evolution and Areas of Origin |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=99 |issue=1 |pages=535–540 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |location=Washington, DC |jstor=3057572 |doi=10.1073/pnas.012577299 |bibcode=2002PNAS...99..535S |pmid=11782554 |pmc=117595|doi-access=free }}</ref> Species native to North America include ''[[Cucurbita digitata|C.&nbsp;digitata]]'' (calabazilla),<ref name="doafingergourd">{{cite web |title=Cucurbita digitata A. Gray |url=http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=CUDI |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=September 1, 2013 |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061119/http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CUDI |url-status=live }}</ref> and ''C.&nbsp;foetidissima'' (buffalo gourd),<ref name="doafiggourd">{{cite web |title=''Cucurbita ficifolia'' Bouché |url=http://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile?symbol=CUFI2 |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |access-date=September 1, 2013 |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054527/http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=CUFI2 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Cucurbita palmata|C.&nbsp;palmata]]'' (coyote melon), and ''C.&nbsp;pepo''.<ref name="nee" /> Some species, such as ''C.&nbsp;digitata'' and ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia,'' are referred to as ''gourds''. Gourds, also called bottle-gourds, which are used as utensils or vessels, belong to the genus ''[[Lagenaria]]'' and are native to Africa. ''Lagenaria'' are in the same family and subfamily as ''Cucurbita'' but in a different [[Tribe (biology)|tribe]].<ref name="roberts">{{cite web |last=Roberts |first=Katherine M. |title=''Cucurbita'' spp. and ''Lagenaria siceraria'' (Molina) – Standley Squash, Gourd, and Pumpkin; Bottle Gourd: Cucurbitaceae |url=http://pages.wustl.edu/peblabguide/articles/1120 |publisher=Washington University in St. Louis |date=March 27, 2012 |access-date=December 31, 2014 |archive-date=February 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215151044/http://pages.wustl.edu/peblabguide/articles/1120 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The earliest known evidence of the domestication of ''Cucurbita'' dates back at least 8,000 years ago, predating the domestication of other crops such as [[maize]] and [[bean]]s in the region by about 4,000 years.<ref name="nee" /><ref name="tamu" /><ref name="gibbonames238">{{cite book |last1=Gibbon |first1=Guy E. |last2=Ames|first2=Kenneth M. |title=Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia|publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=1998 |page=[https://archive.org/details/archaeologyofpre0000unse/page/238 238] |isbn=978-0-8153-0725-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologyofpre0000unse/page/238}}</ref><ref name="roush">{{cite journal |last=Roush |first=Wade |url=https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.276.5314.894 |title=Archaeobiology: Squash Seeds Yield New View of Early American Farming |journal=Science |date=9 May 1997 |volume=276 |issue=5314 |pages=894–895 |publisher=American Association For the Advancement of Science |doi=10.1126/science.276.5314.894|s2cid=158673509 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> This evidence was found in the [[Guilá Naquitz cave]] in Oaxaca, Mexico, during a series of excavations in the 1960s and 1970s, possibly beginning in 1959.<ref name="schoenwetter">{{cite journal |last1=Schoenwetter |first1=James |date=April 1974 |title=Pollen Records of Guila Naquitz Cave |journal=[[American Antiquity]] |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=292–303 |publisher=Society for American Archaeology  |jstor=279589 |doi=10.2307/279589|s2cid=163744556 }}</ref><ref name="benz">{{cite journal |last=Benz |first=Bruce F. |title=Archaeological Evidence of Teosinte Domestication From Guilá Naquitz, Oaxaca |year=2005 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=2104–2106 |doi=10.1073/pnas.98.4.2104 |pmid=11172083 |pmc=29389 |bibcode=2001PNAS...98.2104B |doi-access=free }}</ref> Solid evidence of domesticated ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' was found in the Guilá Naquitz cave in the form of increasing [[Peel (fruit)|rind]] thickness and larger [[Peduncle (botany)|peduncles]] in the newer [[Stratigraphy (archaeology)|stratification layers]] of the cave. By c.&nbsp;8,000 years [[Before Present|BP]] the ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' peduncles found are consistently more than {{convert|10|mm|in|frac=16|sp=us}} thick. Wild ''Cucurbita'' peduncles are always below this 10&nbsp;mm barrier. Changes in fruit shape and color indicate that intentional breeding of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' had occurred by no later than 8,000 years BP.<ref name="ucla">{{cite web|url=http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/Cucurbita/ |title=Cucurbitaceae – Fruits for Peons, Pilgrims, and Pharaohs |publisher=University of California at Los Angeles |access-date=September 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016003715/http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/Cucurbita/ |archive-date=October 16, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="smith1989">{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Bruce D. |date=22 December 1989 |title=Origins of Agriculture in Eastern North America |url=https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.246.4937.1566 |journal=Science |location=Washington, DC |pages=1566–1571 |doi=10.1126/science.246.4937.1566 |pmid=17834420 |volume=246 |issue=4937 |bibcode=1989Sci...246.1566S |s2cid=42832687 |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-date=14 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114192812/https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.246.4937.1566 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="smith">{{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Bruce D. |date=May 1997 |title=The Initial Domestication of ''Cucurbita pepo'' in the Americas 10,000 Years Ago |url=https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.276.5314.932 |journal=Science |location=Washington, DC |doi=10.1126/science.276.5314.932 |volume=276 |issue=5314 |pages=932–934 |access-date=2022-06-30 |archive-date=2023-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413083242/https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.276.5314.932 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> During the same time frame, average rind thickness increased from {{convert|0.84|-|1.15|mm|in|frac=128|sp=us}}.<ref name="feinman">{{cite book |last1=Feinman |first1=Gary M. |last2=Manzanilla |first2=Linda |title=Cultural Evolution: Contemporary Viewpoints |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d4DEPVVoqE8C&pg=PA31 |year=2000 |publisher=Kluwer Academic |location=New York |page=31 |isbn=978-0-306-46240-5}}</ref> Recent genomic studies suggest that ''[[Cucurbita argyrosperma]]'' was domesticated in Mexico, in the region that is currently known as the state of [[Jalisco]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barrera-Redondo |first1=Josué |last2=Sánchez-de la Vega |first2=Guillermo |last3=Aguirre-Liguori |first3=Jonás A. |last4=Castellanos-Morales |first4=Gabriela |last5=Gutiérrez-Guerrero |first5=Yocelyn T. |last6=Aguirre-Dugua |first6=Xitlali |last7=Aguirre-Planter |first7=Erika |last8=Tenaillon |first8=Maud I. |last9=Lira-Saade |first9=Rafael |last10=Eguiarte |first10=Luis E. |title=The domestication of Cucurbita argyrosperma as revealed by the genome of its wild relative |journal=Horticulture Research |date=December 2021 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=109 |pmid=33931618|doi=10.1038/s41438-021-00544-9 |pmc=8087764 |bibcode=2021HorR....8..109B}}</ref>

Squash was domesticated first, followed by maize and then beans, becoming part of the [[Three Sisters (agriculture)|Three Sisters agricultural system]] of [[companion planting]].<ref name="landon">{{cite journal |last=Landon |first=Amanda J. |title=The "How" of the Three Sisters: The Origins of Agriculture in Mesoamerica and the Human Niche |journal=Nebraska Anthropologist |url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=nebanthro |year=2008 |publisher=University of Nebraska – Lincoln |location=Lincoln, NE |pages=110–124 |access-date=2013-09-18 |archive-date=2013-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054240/http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=nebanthro |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="bushnell">{{cite journal |last=Bushnell |first=G. H. S. |title=The Beginning and Growth of Agriculture in Mexico |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London |year=1976 |location=London |volume=275 |issue=936 |pages=117–120 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1976.0074|bibcode=1976RSPTB.275..117B |doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[English language|English]] word "squash" derives from ''askutasquash'' (a green thing eaten raw), a word from the [[Narragansett language]], which was documented by [[Roger Williams]], the founder of [[Rhode Island]], in his 1643 publication ''[[A Key Into the Language of America]]''.<ref name="loc">{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/squash.html |title=How Did the Squash Get its Name? |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=October 10, 2013 |archive-date=October 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016123203/http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/squash.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Similar words for squash exist in related languages of the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] [[Language family|family]].<ref name="paris1989">{{cite journal |last1=Paris |first1=Harry S. |year=1989 |title=Historical Records, Origins, and Development of the Edible Cultivar Groups of ''Cucurbita pepo'' (Cucurbitaceae) |journal=[[Economic Botany]] |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=423–443 |publisher= New York Botanical Garden Press |jstor=4255187 |doi=10.1007/bf02935916|bibcode=1989EcBot..43..423P |s2cid=29052282 }}</ref><ref name="CC">{{cite book |first=Charles L. |last=Cutler |title=O Brave New Words: Native American Loanwords in Current English |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |year=2000 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/obravenewwords00char/page/39 39–42] |isbn=978-0-8061-3246-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/obravenewwords00char/page/39 }}</ref>

=== Production ===

{|class="wikitable" style="float:right; clear:left; width:16em; text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan=2|Squash and gourd* production (2021)
|-
! Country
! Production<br /><small>(millions of [[tonne]]s)</small>
|-
|{{CHN}} ||7.4
|-
|{{UKR}} ||1.3
|-
|{{RUS}} ||1.2
|-
|{{USA}} ||1.1
|-
|{{TUR}} ||0.8
|-
|{{MEX}} ||0.7
|-
|{{ITA}} ||0.6
|-
|{{IDN}} ||0.5
|-
|{{EGY}} ||0.4
|-
|- bgcolor=#eeeeee class="sortbottom"
|'''World'''||'''23.4'''
|-
|colspan=2|<small>*includes pumpkins</small><br /><small>Source: [[FAOSTAT]] of the United Nations</small><ref name="faostat">{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC|title= Production of squash, gourds and pumpkins in 2021, Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity (pick lists)|year=2023|publisher=UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT)|access-date=6 August 2023}}</ref>
|}
In 2021, world production of squashes (including gourds and pumpkins) was 23.4 million tonnes, led by China with 32% of the total (table). Ukraine, Russia, and the United States were secondary producers.

== Toxicity ==
[[Cucurbitin]] is an [[amino acid]] and a [[carboxy]][[pyrrolidine]] that is found in raw ''Cucurbita'' seeds.<ref name="pierce">{{cite book |last=Peirce |first=Andrea |url=https://archive.org/details/americanpharmace00peir/page/212 |title=The American Pharmaceutical Association Practical Guide to Natural Medicines |publisher=Stonesong Press, William Morrow & Co. |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-688-16151-4 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americanpharmace00peir/page/212 212–214]}}</ref><ref name="mihranian">{{cite journal |last1=Mihranian |first1=Valentine H. |last2=Abou-Chaar |first2=Charles I. |year=1968 |title=Extraction, Detection, and Estimation of Cucurbitin in ''Cucurbita'' Seeds |journal=Lloydia |publisher=American Society of Pharmacognosy |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=23–29}}</ref> It retards the development of parasitic [[Trematoda|flukes]] when administered to infected host mice, although the effect is seen only if administration begins immediately after infection.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Herbal_-_HMPC_assessment_report/2011/10/WC500116579.pdf |title=Assessment report on ''Cucurbita pepo'' L. |date=13 September 2011 |publisher=Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC), European Medicines Agency |pages=25–26 |access-date=21 November 2015 |archive-date=22 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122030434/http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Herbal_-_HMPC_assessment_report/2011/10/WC500116579.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Cucurmosin]] is a [[ribosome inactivating protein]] found in the flesh and seed of ''Cucurbita'',<ref name="preedy">{{cite book |last1=Preedy |first1=Victor R. |title=Nuts and Seeds in Health and Disease Prevention |last2=Watson |first2=Ronald Ross |last3=Patel |first3=Vinwood B. |publisher=Academic Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-12-375688-6 |location=London |page=936}}</ref><ref name="barbieri">{{cite journal |last1=Barbieri |first1=L. |last2=Polito |first2=L. |last3=Bolognesi |first3=A. |last4=Ciani |first4=M. |last5=Pelosi |first5=E. |last6=Farini |first6=V. |last7=Jha |first7=A. K. |last8=Sharma |first8=N. |last9=Vivanco |first9=J. M. |last10=Chambery |first10=A. |last11=Parente |first11=A. |last12=Stirpe |first12=F. |date=May 2006 |title=Ribosome-inactivating Proteins in Edible Plants and Purification and Characterization of a New Ribosome-inactivating Protein From ''Cucurbita moschata'' |journal=Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects |volume=1760 |issue=5 |pages=783–792 |doi=10.1016/j.bbagen.2006.01.002 |pmid=16564632}}</ref> notably ''[[Cucurbita moschata]]''.

[[Cucurbitacin]] is a [[steroid|plant steroid]] present in wild ''Cucurbita'' and in each member of the family ''Cucurbitaceae''. Poisonous to mammals,<ref name="tallamy" /> it is found in quantities sufficient to discourage herbivores. It makes wild ''Cucurbita'' and most ornamental gourds, with the exception of an occasional ''C.&nbsp;fraterna'' and ''C.&nbsp;sororia'', bitter to taste.<ref name="burrows" /><ref name="andres2" /><ref name="vidal">{{cite book |title=Western Corn Rootworm: Ecology and Management |publisher=CAB International |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-85199-817-6 |editor-last=Vidal |editor-first=S. |location=Wallingford, UK |pages=67–71 |chapter=4 |doi=10.1079/9780851998176.0000 |chapter-url=http://web.missouri.edu/~hibbardb/CV_files/Tallamy%20et%20al%20chap04%20proof.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129042743/http://web.missouri.edu/~hibbardb/CV_files/Tallamy%20et%20al%20chap04%20proof.pdf |archive-date=2014-11-29 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Ingesting too much cucurbitacin can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea and even collapse.<ref name="Chen">{{cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Jian Chao |last2=Chiu |first2=Ming Hua |last3=Nie |first3=Rui Lin |last4=Cordell |first4=Geoffrey A. |last5=Qui |first5=Samuel X. |year=2005 |title=Cucurbitacins and Cucurbitane Glycosides: Structures and Biological Activities |journal=Natural Product Reports |volume=22 |issue=5 |pages=386–399 |doi=10.1039/B418841C |pmid=16010347}}</ref> This bitterness is especially prevalent in wild ''Cucurbita''; in parts of Mexico, the flesh of the fruits is rubbed on a woman's breast to wean children.<ref name="wean">{{cite web |last=Merrick |first=Laura C. |title=Natural Hybridization of Wild ''Cucurbita sororia'' Group and Domesticated ''C. mixta'' in Southern Sonora, Mexico |url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc07/cgc7-32.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060906112801/http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc07/cgc7-32.html |archive-date=September 6, 2006 |access-date=November 24, 2014 |publisher=North Carolina State University}}</ref> While the process of domestication has largely removed the bitterness from cultivated varieties,<ref name="burrows" /> there are occasional reports of cucurbitacin causing illness in humans.<ref name="burrows" /> Cucurbitacin is also used as a lure in insect traps.<ref name="vidal" />

== Uses ==

=== Nutrition ===
{{nutritional value
| name=Summer squash, all varieties, raw
| water=95 g
| kJ=69
| protein=1.2 g
| fat=0.2 g
| carbs=3.4 g
| fiber=1.1 g
| sugars=2.2 g
| iron_mg=0.35
| magnesium_mg=17
| phosphorus_mg=38
| potassium_mg=262
| zinc_mg=0.29
| manganese_mg=0.175
| vitC_mg=17
| thiamin_mg=0.048
| riboflavin_mg=0.142
| niacin_mg=0.487
| pantothenic_mg=0.155
| vitB6_mg=0.218
| folate_ug=29
| vitA_ug=10
| betacarotene_ug=120
| lutein_ug=2125
| vitK_ug=3
| source_usda=1
| note=[https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170487/nutrients Link to USDA Database entry], for comparison, see [https://web.archive.org/web/20140403095847/http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/3188?fg=&man=&lfacet=&format=&count=&max=25&offset=&sort=&qlookup=pumpkin values for raw pumpkin]
}}

As an example of ''Cucurbita'', raw summer squash is 94% water, 3% [[carbohydrates]], and 1% [[protein (nutrient)|protein]], with negligible [[fat]] content (table). In a 100-gram reference serving, raw squash supplies {{convert|69|kJ|kcal}} of [[food energy]] and is rich in [[vitamin C]] (20% of the [[Daily Value]], DV), moderate in [[vitamin B6]] and [[riboflavin]] (12–17% DV), but otherwise devoid of appreciable nutrient content (table), although the nutrient content of different ''Curcubita'' species may vary somewhat.<ref name="udc">{{cite web |title=What's So Great About Winter Squash? |url=http://www.udc.edu/docs/causes/online/Winter%20Squash%2018.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029184136/http://www.udc.edu/docs/causes/online/Winter%20Squash%2018.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |access-date=January 14, 2015 |publisher=University of the District of Columbia}}</ref>

[[Pumpkin seed]]s contain [[vitamin E]], [[Protein (nutrient)#Testing in foods|crude protein]], [[B vitamins]] and several [[dietary minerals]] (see nutrition table at [[pepita]]).<ref name="mansour">{{cite journal |last1=Mansour |first1=Esam H. |last2=Dworschák |first2=Erno |last3=Lugasi |first3=Andrea |last4=Barna |first4=Barna |last5=Gergely |first5=Anna |year=1993 |title=Nutritive Value of Pumpkin (Cucurbita Pepo Kakai 35) Seed Products |journal=Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=73–78 |bibcode=1993JSFA...61...73M |doi=10.1002/jsfa.2740610112}}</ref> Also present in pumpkin seeds are [[unsaturated fatty acid|unsaturated]] and [[saturated fatty acid|saturated]] oils, [[palmitic acid|palmitic]], [[oleic acid|oleic]] and [[linoleic acid|linoleic]] [[fatty acids]],<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Stevenson DG, Eller FJ, Wang L, Jane JL, Wang T, Inglett GE |year=2007 |title=Oil and tocopherol content and composition of pumpkin seed oil in 12 cultivars |url=http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=fshn_ag_pubs |url-status=live |journal=J Agric Food Chem |volume=55 |issue=10 |pages=4005–4016 |doi=10.1021/jf0706979 |pmid=17439238 |bibcode=2007JAFC...55.4005S |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810055609/http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=fshn_ag_pubs |archive-date=2016-08-10 |access-date=2016-06-04}}</ref> as well as [[carotenoids]].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Durante M, Lenucci MS, Mita G |year=2014 |title=Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction of carotenoids from pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.): a review. |journal=Int J Mol Sci |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=6725–6740 |doi=10.3390/ijms15046725 |pmc=4013658 |pmid=24756094 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Culinary ===

The family Cucurbitaceae has many species used as human food.<ref name="saade" /> ''Cucurbita'' species are some of the most important of those, with various species being prepared and eaten in many ways. Although the stems and skins tend to be more bitter than the flesh,<ref name="Chen" /><ref name="aces">{{cite web |last=Glover |first=Tony |url=http://www.aces.edu/counties/StClair/documents/NRBitterCucumbersSquashGover10.pdf |title=Bitter Cucumbers and Squash |publisher=Alabama Cooperative Extension System |access-date=November 23, 2014}}</ref> the fruits and [[pepita|seeds]] of cultivated varieties are usually quite edible and need little or no preparation. Cross-pollination with toxic types can cause bitterness in plants of the next generation, and these should not be eaten. The flowers and young leaves and shoot tips can also be consumed.<ref name="lim">{{cite book |last=Lim |first=Tong Kwee |year=2012 |page=283 |title=Edible Medicinal And Non-Medicinal Plants: Volume 2, Fruits |publisher=Springer |location=New York |isbn=978-94-007-1763-3}}</ref> The seeds and fruits of most varieties can be stored for long periods of time,<ref name="nee"/> particularly the sweet-tasting winter varieties with their thick, inedible skins.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-01-20|title=Can You Freeze Butternut Squash? [4 Essential Tips]|author-first1=Ross|author-last1=Young|url=https://www.freezeit.co.uk/can-you-freeze-butternut-squash/|access-date=2021-10-18|website=Freeze It|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-10-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018140139/https://www.freezeit.co.uk/can-you-freeze-butternut-squash/|url-status=live}}</ref> Summer squash have a thin, edible skin. The seeds of both types can be roasted, eaten raw, made into [[pumpkin seed oil]],<ref name="fürnkranz" /> ground into a flour or meal,<ref name="lazos">{{cite journal |last=Lazos |first=E. S. |title=Certain Functional Properties of Defatted Pumpkin Seed Flour |journal=Plant Foods for Human Nutrition |volume=42 |issue=3 |date=July 1992 |pages=257–273 |pmid=1502127 |doi=10.1007/bf02193934|s2cid=1809751 }}</ref> or otherwise prepared. Squashes are primarily grown for the fresh food market.<ref name="isuagmrc">{{cite web |last=Geisler |first=Malinda |date=May 2012 |title=Squash |url=http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/vegetables/squash/ |publisher=Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, Iowa State University |access-date=October 13, 2013 |archive-date=September 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929143757/http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/vegetables/squash/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Sangkhaya fak thong.JPG|thumb|right|upright|alt=Slice of yellowish pumpkin custard with brown shell|Pumpkin custard made from kabocha, a cultivated variant of ''C.&nbsp;maxima'']]

Long before European contact, ''Cucurbita'' had been a major food source for the native peoples of the Americas. The species became an important food for European settlers, including the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]], who even featured it at the first [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]].<ref name="ucla" /> Commercially produced pumpkin commonly used in [[pumpkin pie]] is most often varieties of ''C.&nbsp;moschata''; [[Libby's]], by far the largest producer of processed pumpkin, uses a proprietary strain of the Dickinson pumpkin variety of ''C.&nbsp;moschata'' for its canned pumpkin.<ref name="richardson">{{cite web |last=Richardson |first=R. W. |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/cgc_reports/squash95.pdf |title=Squash and Pumpkin |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System |access-date=September 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924160527/http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/cgc_reports/squash95.pdf |archive-date=September 24, 2015 }}</ref> Other foods that can be made using members of this genus include biscuits, [[Pumpkin bread|bread]], cheesecake, desserts, donuts, [[granola]], ice cream, lasagna dishes, pancakes, pudding, pumpkin butter,<ref name="bhg">{{cite web |url=http://www.bhg.com/recipe/vegetables/spiced-pumpkin-butter/ |title=Spiced Pumpkin Butter |publisher=Better Homes and Gardens |access-date=January 12, 2014 |archive-date=January 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113000431/http://www.bhg.com/recipe/vegetables/spiced-pumpkin-butter/ |url-status=live }}</ref> salads, soups, and stuffing.<ref name="lynch">{{cite news |last=Lynch |first=Rene |url=http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-pumpkin-bread-pumpkin-recipes-20131001,0,3888485.story |title=Pumpkin Bread and 18 Other Pumpkin Recipes You Must Make Now |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=October 1, 2013 |access-date=October 8, 2013 |archive-date=October 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007053733/http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-pumpkin-bread-pumpkin-recipes-20131001,0,3888485.story |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Squash soup]] is a dish in African cuisine.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garratt |first=Nicky |title=Mango and Mint: Arabian, Indian, and North African Inspired Vegan Cuisine |publisher=PM Press |series=Tofu Hound Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-60486-323-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/Mango_Mint_9781604868890 |page=46 }}</ref> The [[Xerophyte|xerophytic]] species are proving useful in the search for nutritious foods that grow well in arid regions.<ref name="bemisnc">{{cite journal |last=Bemis |first=W. P. |year=1978 |title=The Versatility of the Feral Buffalo Gourd, ''Cucurbita foetidissima'' HBK |url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc01/cgc1-24.html |journal=Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report |volume=1 |page=25 |access-date=2013-09-02 |archive-date=2013-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053702/http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc01/cgc1-24.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'' is used to make soft and mildly alcoholic drinks.<ref name="saade" />

In India, squashes (''ghiya'') are cooked with seafood such as prawns.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jaffrey |first=Madhur |author-link=Madhur Jaffrey |title=Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery |date=1982 |publisher=BBC Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-563-16491-3 |page=90}}</ref> In France, marrows (''courges'') are traditionally served as a [[gratin]], sieved and cooked with butter, milk, and egg, and flavored with salt, pepper, and nutmeg,<ref>{{cite book |last=David |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth David |title=French Country Cooking |date=1987 |orig-year=1951 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |location=London |isbn=978-0-86318-251-8 |page=179}}</ref> and as soups. In Italy, zucchini and larger squashes are served in a variety of regional dishes, such as ''cocuzze alla puviredda'' cooked with olive oil, salt and herbs from [[Apulia]]; as ''torta di zucca'' from [[Liguria]], or ''torta di zucca e riso'' from [[Emilia-Romagna]], the squashes being made into a pie filling with butter, [[ricotta]], [[Parmesan]], egg, and milk; and as a sauce for pasta in dishes like ''spaghetti alle zucchine'' from Sicily.<ref>{{cite book |last1=della Salda |first1=Anna Gosetti |title=Le Ricette Regionali Italiane|language=it |date=1993 |orig-year=1967 |publisher=Solares |isbn=<!--not stated--> |pages=107, 439, 878, 987}}</ref> In Japan, squashes such as small ''C. moschata'' pumpkins (''kabocha'') are eaten boiled with sesame sauce, fried as a [[tempura]] dish, or made into balls with [[sweet potato]] and [[Japanese mountain yam]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Yoneda |first=Soei |title=The Heart of Zen Cuisine |date=1987 |orig-year=1982 |publisher=Kodansha America |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87011-848-7 |pages=131, 133, 154}}</ref>

==In culture==
===Art, music, and literature===
[[File:Zapallomuseolarco.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Squash carved into a teapot shape|[[Moche (culture)|Moche]] squash ceramic. 300 C.E. [[Larco Museum]].]]
Along with maize and beans, squash has been depicted in the art work of the native peoples of the Americas for at least 2,000 years.<ref name="metmuseum">{{cite web |title=Moche Decorated Ceramics |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/moch/hd_moch.htm |access-date=October 10, 2013 |archive-date=October 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030011138/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/moch/hd_moch.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="benson">{{cite journal | last1=Benson | first1=Elizabeth P. | year=1983 | title=A Moche "Spatula" | journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal | volume=18 | pages=39–52 | publisher= The University of Chicago Press | jstor=1512797 | doi=10.2307/1512797| s2cid=191487511 }}</ref> For example, cucurbits are often represented in [[Moche (culture)|Moche]] ceramics.<ref name="metmuseum" /><ref name="berrin">{{cite book | title=The Spirit of Ancient Peru: Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera | publisher=Thames and Hudson | last=Berrin [[Larco Museum]]|first=Katherine | year=1997 | location=New York|isbn=978-0-500-01802-6}}</ref>

Though native to the western hemisphere, ''Cucurbita'' began to spread to other parts of the world after [[Christopher Columbus]]'s arrival in the New World in 1492.<ref name="whitaker1947">{{cite journal | last=Whitaker | first=Thomas W. | title=American Origin of Cultivated Cucurbits | journal=[[Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden]] | volume=34 | issue=2 | pages=101–111 | publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden Press | location=St. Louis | year=1947 | doi=10.2307/2394459 | jstor=2394459 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/29784 | access-date=2021-08-26 | archive-date=2020-12-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203204403/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/29784 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="whitaker1956">{{cite journal | last=Whitaker  | first=Thomas W.  | title=The Origin of the Cultivated ''Cucurbita'' | journal=[[The American Naturalist]]  | volume= 90  | issue=852  | publisher=University of Chicago Press | location=Chicago | pages= 171–176  | year=1956  | doi=10.1086/281923 | jstor=2458406| s2cid=85189852 }}</ref> Until recently, the earliest known depictions of this genus in Europe was of ''Cucurbita pepo'' in ''[[De Historia Stirpium Commentarii Insignes]]'' in 1542 by the German botanist [[Leonhart Fuchs]], but in 1992, two paintings, one of ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' and one of ''C.&nbsp;maxima'', painted between 1515 and 1518, were identified in [[festoon]]s at [[Villa Farnesina]] in Rome.<ref name="janick">{{cite journal |last1=Janick |first1=Jules |last2=Paris |first2=Harry S.|title=The Cucurbit Images (1515–1518) of the Villa Farnesina, Rome |journal=Annals of Botany |date=February 2006 |volume=97 |issue=2 |pages=165–176 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcj025 |pmc=2803371 |pmid=16314340}}</ref> Also, in 2001 depictions of this genus were identified in ''[[Grandes Heures of Anne of Brittany]]'' (''Les Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne''), a French devotional book, an [[illuminated manuscript]] created between 1503 and 1508. This book contains an illustration known as ''Quegourdes de turquie'', which was identified by cucurbit specialists as ''C.&nbsp;pepo'' subsp. ''texana'' in 2006.<ref name="paris">{{cite journal |last1=Paris |first1=Harry S. |last2=Daunay |first2= Marie-Christine |last3=Pitrat |first3=Michel |last4=Janick |first4=Jules |title=First Known Image of ''Cucurbita'' in Europe, 1503–1508|journal=Annals of Botany |date=July 2006 |volume=98|issue=1 |pages=41–47 |doi=10.1093/aob/mcl082 |pmc=2803533 |pmid=16687431}}</ref>

In 1952, Stanley Smith Master, using the pen name Edrich Siebert, wrote "The Marrow Song (Oh what a beauty!)" to a tune in [[6/8 time|{{music|time|6|8}} time]]. It became a popular hit in Australia in 1973,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Marrow Song (Oh What A Beauty!) by Edrich Siebert |url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=17140 |publisher=Songfacts |access-date=November 20, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129032340/http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=17140 |url-status=live }}</ref> and was revived by [[the Wurzels]] in Britain on their 2003 album ''Cutler of the West''.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Marrow Song |url=http://www.thewurzels.com/lyricsmarrow.htm |publisher=The Wurzels |access-date=November 20, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129035112/http://www.thewurzels.com/lyricsmarrow.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Wurzels: Cutler of the West |url=http://www.last.fm/music/The+Wurzels/Cutler+Of+The+West |publisher=Last.fm |access-date=November 20, 2014 |archive-date=December 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202010658/http://www.last.fm/music/The+Wurzels/Cutler+Of+The+West |url-status=live }}</ref> [[John Greenleaf Whittier]] wrote a poem entitled ''The Pumpkin'' in 1850.<ref name="whittier">{{cite web|url=http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/pumpkin|title=The Pumpkin|publisher=Poets.org|access-date=November 20, 2014|archive-date=November 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121224054/http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/pumpkin|url-status=live}}</ref> "The Great Pumpkin" is a fictional holiday figure in the [[comic strip]] ''[[Peanuts]]'' by [[Charles M. Schulz]].<ref name="peanuts">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-7-things-you-dont-know-about-tonights-peanuts-special/2011/10/26/gIQAQPZhKM_blog.html|title='It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown': 7 Things You Don't Know About Tonight's 'Peanuts' Special|newspaper=Washington Post|last=Cavna|first=Michael|date=October 27, 2011|access-date=November 20, 2014|archive-date=November 29, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129143612/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown-7-things-you-dont-know-about-tonights-peanuts-special/2011/10/26/gIQAQPZhKM_blog.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Cleansing and personal care uses===
''C.&nbsp;foetidissima'' contains a [[saponin]] that can be obtained from the fruit and root. This can be used as a soap, shampoo, and bleach. Prolonged contact can cause skin irritation.<ref name="cutler">{{cite journal |last1=Cutler|first1= H.C. |last2=Whitaker|first2=T.W. |year=1961 |title=History and Distribution of the Cultivated Cucurbits in the Americas |journal=American Antiquity |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=469–485 |jstor=278735 |doi=10.2307/278735|s2cid= 161495351 }}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="Heiser">{{cite book |last1=Heiser|first1= Charles B.|year=2016|title=The Gourd Book |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |pages=9, 33–34|isbn=978-0806155678}}</ref> Pumpkin is also used in cosmetics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsbug.info/lafayette_leader/news/local/a-new-way-to-create-pumpkin-spice-products-drugs-cosmetics/article_b669ed92-094e-50e2-b12d-ecdf8f4be1f4.html|publisher=Lafayette Leader|title=A new way to create pumpkin spice products, drugs, cosmetics|last=Adam|first=Chris|date=November 18, 2019|access-date=March 9, 2020|archive-date=December 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219051904/http://www.newsbug.info/lafayette_leader/news/local/a-new-way-to-create-pumpkin-spice-products-drugs-cosmetics/article_b669ed92-094e-50e2-b12d-ecdf8f4be1f4.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Folk remedies===
<!--if the new sources mandate it then we should add a fresh, cited claim in line with the folk medicine evidence-->
''Cucurbita'' have been used in various cultures as folk remedies. Pumpkins have been used by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] to treat intestinal worms and urinary ailments. This Native American remedy was adopted by American doctors in the early nineteenth century as an [[anthelmintic]] for the expulsion of worms.<ref name="Henshaw">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tMCd1yED2EUC&pg=PA105 |title=Environmental History of the Hudson River |editor= Robert E. Henshaw|location=Albany |publisher=State University of New York Press |year= 2011 |isbn=978-1-4384-4026-2}}</ref> In southeastern Europe, seeds of ''C. pepo'' were used to treat irritable bladder and [[benign prostatic hyperplasia]].<ref name="Schulz">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-978-3-662-09666-6 |title=Rational Phytotherapy: A Reference Guide for Physicians and Pharmacists|editor= Volker Schulz |publisher=Springer|location=Munich |edition= 5th |year= 2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-978-3-662-09666-6/page/n319 304]–305 |isbn=978-3-540-40832-1}}</ref> In Germany, pumpkin seed is approved for use by the [[Commission E]], which assesses folk and herbal medicine, for irritated bladder conditions and [[micturition]] problems of prostatic hyperplasia stages 1 and 2, although the monograph published in 1985 noted a lack of pharmacological studies that could substantiate empirically found clinical activity.<ref name="BGA">{{cite web |url=http://buecher.heilpflanzen-welt.de/BGA-Commission-E-Monographs/0309.htm |title=Pumpkin seed (Cucurbitae peponis semen) |work= Heilpflanzen-Welt Bibliothek|access-date=March 25, 2015}}</ref> The [[FDA]] in the United States, on the other hand, banned the sale of all such non-prescription drugs for the treatment of prostate enlargement in 1990.<ref name="Foster">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WQBbOjN0T64C&pg=PA132 |title=Tyler's Honest Herbal: A Sensible Guide to the Use of Herbs and Related Remedies |first1= Steven|last1=Foster|first2= Varro E.|last2=Tyler |pages=131–132|publisher=Routledge|location=Binghamton, NY |edition= 4th |year= 1999|isbn=9781136745010 }}</ref>

In China, [[Cucurbita moschata|''C. moschata'']] seeds were also used in [[traditional Chinese medicine]] for the treatment of the parasitic disease [[schistosomiasis]]<ref name="xiao">{{cite journal |last1=Xiao |first1=S. H. |last2=Keiser |first2=J. |last3=Chen |first3=M. G. |last4=Tanner |first4=M. |last5=Utzinger |first5=J. |title=Research and Development of Antischistosomal Drugs in the People's Republic of China a 60-year review|journal=Advances in Parasitology |year=2010 |volume=73 |pages=231–295 |doi=10.1016/S0065-308X(10)73009-8 |pmid=20627145|isbn=9780123815149 }}</ref> and for the expulsion of [[tape worm]]s.<ref name="Fischer">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KLd9v4hwtGgC&pg=PA283 |title= Practical Therapeutics of Traditional Chinese Medicine|first1= Yan|last1= Wu|first2= Warren|last2=Fischer |publisher=Paradigm Publications|location=Taos, NM|year=1997 |pages=282–283 |isbn= 978-0-912111-39-1}}</ref> In Mexico, herbalists use ''C.&nbsp;ficifolia'' in the belief that it reduces [[blood sugar]] levels.<ref name="Andrade">{{cite journal |last1=Andrade-Cetto|first1= A. |last2=Heinrich|first2=M. |title=Mexican Plants With Hypoglycaemic Effect Used in the Treatment of Diabetes |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=325–348 | date=July 2005 |pmid=15964161 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2005.04.019}}</ref>

===Festivals===
[[File:Squash Pyramid Display.JPG|thumb|upright|alt=White, green, and orange squashes built into a Christmas tree shape|A pyramid of squashes in the Waterlily House, [[Kew Gardens]], 2013]]

''Cucurbita'' fruits including pumpkins and marrows are celebrated in festivals in countries such as Austria,<ref name="Kuerbisfest">{{cite web|title=Kürbisfest Am Himmel|url=https://www.himmel.at/veranstaltungen-2/kuerbisfest/|language=de|access-date=September 15, 2020|archive-date=September 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922133324/https://www.himmel.at/veranstaltungen-2/kuerbisfest/|url-status=live}}</ref> Bolivia,<ref name="BoliviaQaramarka">{{cite web|title=Sabores de Bolivia|url=http://calendariosaboresbolivia.com/tag/ferias/|publisher=Cristina Olmos|language=es|access-date=November 22, 2014|archive-date=August 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821033054/http://calendariosaboresbolivia.com/tag/ferias/|url-status=live}}</ref> Britain,<ref name="IncrEdibles"/> Canada,<ref name="canadafest">{{cite web |title=Smashing Success! Crowd Watches as Pumpkin Dropped on Old Car&nbsp;... All for a Gourd Cause |url=http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/10/12/smashing-success-crowd-watches-as-pumpkin-dropped-on-old-car--all-for-a-gourd-cause |agency=Calgary Sun |date=October 11, 2014 |last=McMurray |first=Jenna |access-date=November 20, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018144126/http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/10/12/smashing-success-crowd-watches-as-pumpkin-dropped-on-old-car--all-for-a-gourd-cause |archive-date=October 18, 2014 }}</ref> Croatia,<ref name="Bučijada">{{cite web|title=Pumpkin Festival|url=http://www.tzig.hr/en/bucijada|website=Tourist Board of Ivanić-Grad|access-date=3 February 2016|archive-date=26 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160926101810/http://www.tzig.hr/en/bucijada|url-status=live}}</ref> France,<ref name="FranceArgentenay">{{cite web |title=Caligny: le Village de l'Orne où le Potiron est Roi |date=4 October 2014 |url=http://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/basse-normandie/2014/10/04/caligny-le-village-de-l-orne-ou-le-potiron-est-roi-564684.htmll |publisher=info.fr|language=fr |access-date=December 31, 2014}}</ref><ref name="FranceSaint Bleu">{{cite web |title=Fête de la Citrouille et des Cucurbitacées de Saint Laurent |date=2 October 2014 |url=http://www.francebleu.fr/evenements/evenement/fete-de-la-citrouille-et-des-cucurbitacees-de-saint-laurent-1822484 |publisher=France Bleu |language=fr |access-date=November 22, 2014}}</ref> Italy,<ref name="ItalyVenzone">{{cite web |title=Festa della Zucca |url=http://www.prolocovenzone.it/Areas/GeneralInformation/FestaDellaZucca.aspx |publisher=Associazione Pro Loco di Venzone |language=it |access-date=November 22, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130413065928/http://www.prolocovenzone.it/Areas/GeneralInformation/FestaDellaZucca.aspx |archive-date=April 13, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="ItalySalzano">{{cite web |title=21º Festa della Zucca Salzano  |url=http://www.prolocosalzano.it/zucca/ |publisher=Pro Loco Salzano |language=it |access-date=November 22, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129081032/http://www.prolocosalzano.it/zucca/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ItalyPiozzo">{{cite web |title=Tra Meno un Mese Torna la Fiera Regionale della Zucca di Piozzo, ecco il Programma Ufficiale della 21esima Edizione |url=http://www.prolocopiozzo.it/new/index.php |publisher=Pro Loco di Piozzo |language=it |access-date=November 22, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129112156/http://www.prolocopiozzo.it/new/index.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://prolocomelara.it/ |access-date=2025-09-30 |website=Pro Loco Melara |language=it-IT}}</ref> Japan,<ref name="japanfest">{{cite web |title=Autumn Events Calendar |url=http://www.asahikawa-tourism.com/asahikawa/asahikawa_autumn/autumn.html |publisher=Asahikawa Tourism |access-date=November 20, 2014 |archive-date=November 3, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103143818/http://www.asahikawa-tourism.com/asahikawa/asahikawa_autumn/autumn.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Peru,<ref name="PeruCuribaya">{{cite web |title=Festival del Zapallo y de la Trucha de Curibaya se Realizará en la Plaza Quiñonez |date=10 April 2014 |url=http://radiouno.pe/noticias/40045/festival-zapallo-trucha-curibaya-se-realizara-plaza-quinonez |publisher=Radio Uno |language=es |access-date=November 22, 2014 |archive-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129061541/http://radiouno.pe/noticias/40045/festival-zapallo-trucha-curibaya-se-realizara-plaza-quinonez |url-status=live}}</ref> Portugal, Spain,<ref name="SpainNavarra">{{cite web |title=V feria de las Calabazas Gigantes de Navarra (Valtierra)|url=http://www.lasbardenas.com/v-feria-de-las-calabazas-gigantes-de-navarra-valtierra/ |publisher=Bardeneras |language=es |access-date=November 22, 2014 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129143423/http://www.lasbardenas.com/v-feria-de-las-calabazas-gigantes-de-navarra-valtierra/ |archive-date=November 29, 2014}}</ref> Switzerland,<ref>{{cite web |title=Festivals and Events in Switzerland |date=15 February 2009 |url=http://www.travelsignposts.com/Switzerland/useful-facts/festivals-and-events-in-switzerland/ |publisher=Travelsignposts |access-date=November 22, 2014 |archive-date=2 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202033307/http://www.travelsignposts.com/Switzerland/useful-facts/festivals-and-events-in-switzerland |url-status=live }}</ref> and the United States. Argentina holds an annual nationwide pumpkin festival ''Fiesta Nacional del Zapallo'' ({{lit|Squashes and Pumpkins National Festival}}), in [[Ceres, Santa Fe]],<ref name="ceres">{{cite web |title=Fiesta Nacional del Zapallo |url=http://lafiestanacional.com.ar/fiesta-nacional-del-zapallo/ |publisher=La Fiesta Nacional |language=es |access-date=November 22, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130804165532/http://lafiestanacional.com.ar/fiesta-nacional-del-zapallo/ |archive-date=August 4, 2013 }}</ref> on the last day of which a ''Reina Nacional del Zapallo'' ({{lit|National Queen of the Pumpkin}}) is chosen.<ref name="reinazapallo">{{cite web |title=Esperanza: Rocío Damiano fue elegida Reina Nacional del Zapallo en Ceres |url=http://entecultura.com.ar/usina2/2013/06/esperanza-rocio-damiano-fue-elegida-reina-nacional-del-zapallo-en-ceres/ |publisher=Ente Cultura |language=es |access-date=November 22, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129083945/http://entecultura.com.ar/usina2/2013/06/esperanza-rocio-damiano-fue-elegida-reina-nacional-del-zapallo-en-ceres/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="elliotal">{{cite web |title=Ceres: Presentaron la Fiesta Nacional del Zapallo |url=http://www.ellitoral.com/index.php/diarios/2014/06/11/regionales/REGI-02.html |publisher=El Litoral |language=es |access-date=November 22, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129025729/http://www.ellitoral.com/index.php/diarios/2014/06/11/regionales/REGI-02.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ceresonline">{{cite web |title=Presentacion Oficial – 43º Fiesta Nacional del Zapallo |date=23 May 2014 |url=http://ceresonline.com.ar/2014/05/presentacion-oficial-43o-fiesta-nacional-del-zapallo/#sthash.Wo7kqTt8.VxmpezuP.dpbs |publisher=Ceres Online |language=es |access-date=November 22, 2014 |archive-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129211350/http://ceresonline.com.ar/2014/05/presentacion-oficial-43o-fiesta-nacional-del-zapallo/#sthash.Wo7kqTt8.VxmpezuP.dpbs |url-status=live }}</ref> In Portugal the ''Festival da Abóbora de Lourinhã e Atalaia'' ("Squashes and Pumpkins Festival in [[Lourinhã]] and [[Gavião e Atalaia|Atalaia]]") is held in Lourinhã city, called the ''Capital Nacional da Abóbora'' (the "National Capital of Squashes and Pumpkins").<ref name="PortugalLourinhã">{{cite web |title=Festival da Abóbora de Lourinhã e Atalaia |url=http://festivaldaabobora.pt/bem-vindo/ |publisher=Festival da Abobora |language=pt |access-date=November 22, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111011222/http://festivaldaabobora.pt/bem-vindo/ |archive-date=November 11, 2014 }}</ref> [[Ludwigsburg|Ludwigsburg, Germany]] annually hosts the world's largest pumpkin festival.<ref name="germanyfest">{{cite news |title=The World's Largest Pumpkin Festival in Germany |url=http://traveltips.usatoday.com/worlds-largest-pumpkin-festival-germany-108208.html |newspaper=USA Today |access-date=November 20, 2014 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129042320/http://traveltips.usatoday.com/worlds-largest-pumpkin-festival-germany-108208.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In Britain a giant marrow (zucchini) weighing {{convert|54.3177|kg|lboz|frac=32|sp=us}} was displayed in the [[Harrogate]] Autumn Flower Show in 2012.<ref name="giantuk">{{cite web |title=Giant Vegetables from UK Festival |website=[[CBS News]] |date=14 September 2012 |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/giant-vegetables-from-uk-festival/ |access-date=November 20, 2014 |agency=CBS News |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129060808/http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/giant-vegetables-from-uk-festival/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In the US, [[pumpkin chucking]] is practiced competitively, with machines such as [[trebuchet]]s and [[Seismic source#Air gun|air cannons]] designed to throw intact pumpkins as far as possible.<ref>{{cite web |title=Punkin Chunkin |url=http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/punkin-chunkin |publisher=Science Channel |access-date=November 20, 2014 |archive-date=November 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113164745/http://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/punkin-chunkin |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Andy |title=Punkin Chunkin 2013: Will Someone Finally Launch A Pumpkin One Mile? |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/punkin-chunkin-2013_n_4340138.html |work=Huffington Post |access-date=November 20, 2014 |date=November 26, 2013 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129071900/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/26/punkin-chunkin-2013_n_4340138.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Keene Pumpkin Fest]] is held annually in [[New Hampshire]]; in 2013 it held the world record for the most [[jack-o-lantern]]s lit in one place, 30,581 on October 19, 2013.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/smiles-pumpkins-abound-as-keene-breaks-jack-o--lantern/article_aa596f94-5018-5fb5-add9-5328fc1e466a.html | author=Dandrea, Alyssa | date=October 20, 2013 | title=Smiles, Pumpkins Abound as Keene Breaks Jack-o'-lantern Record | newspaper=The Keene Sentinel | access-date=November 20, 2013 | archive-date=November 23, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131123222840/http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/smiles-pumpkins-abound-as-keene-breaks-jack-o--lantern/article_aa596f94-5018-5fb5-add9-5328fc1e466a.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Halloween]] is widely celebrated with jack-o-lanterns made of large orange pumpkins carved with ghoulish faces and illuminated from inside with candles.<ref name="jacko">{{cite web |title=History of the Jack O' Lantern |url=http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/jack-olantern-history |website=History.com |publisher=A&E Networks |access-date=November 20, 2014 |archive-date=November 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141118024059/http://www.history.com/topics/halloween/jack-olantern-history |url-status=live }}</ref> The pumpkins used for jack-o-lanterns are ''C.&nbsp;pepo'',<ref name="ufl">{{cite web |last=Stephens |first=James M. |url=http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mv116 |title=Pumpkin — Cucurbita spp. |publisher=University of Florida |access-date=November 23, 2014 |archive-date=October 31, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141031125048/http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mv116 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="baggett">{{cite web |last=Baggett |first=J. R. |url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc02/cgc2-19.html |title=Attempts to Cross ''Cucurbita moschata'' (Duch.) Poir. 'Butternut' and ''C. pepo'' L. 'Delicata' |publisher=North Carolina State University |access-date=November 23, 2014 |archive-date=February 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140206122219/http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc02/cgc2-19.html |url-status=live }}</ref> not to be confused with the ones typically used for pumpkin pie in the United States, which are ''C.&nbsp;moschata''.<ref name="richardson"/> [[Kew Gardens]] marked Halloween in 2013 with a display of pumpkins, including a towering pyramid made of many varieties of squash, in the Waterlily House during its "IncrEdibles" festival.<ref name="IncrEdibles">{{cite web |title=IncrEdible! Kew Gardens to Unveil Towering Pyramid of Pumpkins in London |url=http://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/country-news/incredible-kew-gardens-to-unveil-towering-pyramid-of-pumpkins-in-london |publisher=Country Life |access-date=November 20, 2014 |date=September 12, 2013 |archive-date=November 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129070254/http://www.countrylife.co.uk/news/country-news/incredible-kew-gardens-to-unveil-towering-pyramid-of-pumpkins-in-london |url-status=live }}<!--Source says 75 varieties; but not all were in the pyramid itself--></ref>

==See also==
* [[List of gourds and squashes]] in the genus ''Cucurbita''
* [[List of squash and pumpkin dishes]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Wiktionary-inline|Cucurbita}}
* {{Commons-inline}}
* {{Wikispecies-inline}}
* {{Cookbook-inline|Squash}}

{{Squashes and pumpkins}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5339301}}
{{Authority control}}

__FORCETOC__

[[Category:Cucurbita| ]]
[[Category:Cucurbitaceae genera]]
[[Category:Squashes and pumpkins]]
[[Category:Early agriculture in Mesoamerica]]
[[Category:Crops originating from indigenous Americans]]
[[Category:Native American cuisine]]
[[Category:Cucurbiteae]]