Cucurbita

Cucurbita
Sample of Cucurbita
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Subfamily:	Cucurbitoideae
Tribe:	Cucurbiteae
Genus:	Cucurbita L.
Species
C. argyrosperma / C. mixta - cushaw C.  cordata C. digitata - fingerleaf gourd C. ecuadorensis C. ficifolia - figleaf gourd, chilacayote C. foetidissima - stinking gourd, buffalo gourd C. lundelliana C. maxima - winter squash, pumpkin C. moschata - butternut squash, "dickinson" pumpkin C. okeechobeensis C. palmata C. pedatifolia C. pepo - acorn squash, field pumpkin, yellow summer squash, zucchini, small multicolored gourds C. radicans - calabacilla, calabaza de coyote List source : [1]
Synonyms
Mellouia Gasp. Melopepo Mill. Ozodycus Raf. Pepo Mill. Pileocalyx Gasp. Sphenantha Schrad. Tristemon Scheele

Cucurbita is a genus in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae first cultivated in Mesoamerica and now used in many parts of the world.^[2][3] It includes species grown for their fruit and edible seeds (the squashes, pumpkins and marrows, and the chilacayote), as well as some species grown only as gourds. These gourds (and other squashes) come in many colors, including blue, orange, yellow, red, and green. They have bicollateral vascular bundles. Many North and Central American species are visited by specialist pollinators in the apid group Eucerini, especially the genera Peponapis and Xenoglossa, and these bees can be very important for fruit set.

Cucurbita species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Cabbage Moth, Hypercompe indecisa and Turnip Moth. Cucurbitin is found in Cucurbita seeds.^[4]

Several species of Cucurbita are native to North America, including Cucurbita foetidissima (finger-leaved gourd), Cucurbita digitata (calabazilla), and Cucurbita palmata (coyote melon). These plants produce gourds and form large, fleshy, tuber-like roots. Some species, however, are native to South America, including Cucurbita pepo.

Food

Cucurbita species are often used as food, either for their fruit or the seeds lying within. The winter varieties have thick, inedible skins, and so store well. They are also very sweet. Summer squash, on the other hand, have a very thin skin, which can be eaten. The seeds inside can be ground into a flour or meal, roasted and eaten whole, made into pumpkinseed oil, or otherwise prepared.

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  Cucurbita Stem Longitudinal section 100X

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  Cucurbita Stem Longitudinal section 400X

See also

• Squash (plant)
• Cucumber
• Pumpkin
• Zucchini
• Winter squash
• Summer Squash

Notes

1. ^ GRIN. "Species in GRIN for genus Cucurbita". Taxonomy for Plants. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland: USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?3164. Retrieved June 24, 2011. 
2. ^ Whitaker (1947)
3. ^ Whitaker (1956)
4. ^ http://www.drugs.com/npp/pumpkin.html

References

• "Cucurbita". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=22365. Retrieved 6 November 2002. 
• Whitaker, T.W. (1947). "American origin of cultivated cucurbits". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 34: 101–111. 
• Whitaker, T.W. (1956). "The origin of the cultivated cucurbita". The American Naturalist 90 (852): 171–176. doi:10.1086/281923.