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Cucurbita
Yellow squash
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Cucurbitales Family: Cucurbitaceae Genus: Cucurbita L.
Species
C. digitata - fingerleaf gourd C. ficifolia - figleaf gourd, chilacayote C. foetidissima - stinking gourd, buffalo gourd [1] C. maxima - winter squash, pumpkin C. mixta - pumpkin C. moschata - butternut squash, "dickinson" pumpkin C. okeechobeensis C. palmata C. pepo - acorn squash, field pumpkin, yellow summer squash, zucchini many others

Cucurbita is a genus in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae first cultivated in the Americas and now used in many parts of the world¹². 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. 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.

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

Notes

References

• Cucurbita (TSN 22365). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 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. 

External links

• Coyote Melon Pictures and Information at blackturtle.us

picture: Cucurbita Moschata Vine Close-up

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• This page was last modified on 10 October 2008, at 03:14.

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