Cucurbita 101: A Pumpkin Guide

Here’s a breakdown of four common “Cucurbit” groups.

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Since we are now officially in the Fall season , our thinking may turn to Halloween and the Thanksgiving holiday . “ What a undecomposed time to talk pumpkins ” , I think . The technical name for the pumpkin isCucurbita , which is actually a act of dissimilar squashes , and a genus in the gourd menage Cucurbitaceae .

I had no idea there were so many dissimilar form . pumpkin vine are uncommitted in many color , soma , and sizes . They are used in PIE and other desserts , and others are used for festive vacation decorations . As far as pumpkin specifically , there are a number of coinage “ submarine sandwich - radical ” . Here are four of the vulgar ones .

Cucurbita Moschata(C. moschata )

Like pumpkin Proto-Indo European ? This group admit the “ cheese ” pumpkin vine often used for commercially force out autumn pumpkin . They tend to be oblong in shape and have tan cutis . Other members of this family admit the Winter summer crookneck and butternut squashes .

Specific potpourri include :

• ‘ Long Island Cheese ’ , a pumpkin dating to the 19th century that resemble a wheel of cheese.• ‘ Musquee de Provence ’ , a large rare heirloom variety show from southerly France.• ‘ Violina ’ , another rare heirloom from Italy .

Cucurbita Pepo(C. pepo )

The autumn pumpkin varieties most citizenry recognize are from the Cucurbita Pepo chemical group . These are the lustrous orangeness - skinned pumpkins carved as jack - oxygen - lantern or decorated for the Thanksgiving season . Members of Cucurbita Pepo let in some of the most vulgar squash seen in the grocery store , such as acorn , spaghetti , yellowish summer crookneck , yellow summer and courgette squashes .

• ‘ Jack O ’ Lantern ’ , the quintessential motley for Halloween autumn pumpkin carving.• ‘ Connecticut Field’• ‘ Champion’• ‘ Howden ’ and Howden Biggi ’

Other varieties include pattypan and gemstone squashes .

Cucurbita Maxima(C. maxima )

pumpkin found in the Cucurbita Maxima group are the “ monsters of the pumpkin humans . ” They are usually circular and have a reddish - orange cutis . This specie also contain most winter , hubbard , turban , banana and buttercup squash vine .

More notably though , they include some of the self-aggrandizing varieties of pumpkins in the world , including those grown for free weight contest at county fairs every year . Pumpkins from this home typically produce fruits weighing more than 100 pounds . The new 2011 world record bankrupt pumpkin weighed in at a judgement - blowing 1,818.5 pound ! cultivator of elephantine pumpkins often hand - pollinate the prime and leave only one fruit per plant for the in force resolution .

• The ‘ Atlantic Giant ’ ( or ‘ Dill ’s Atlantic Giant ’ ) variety was developed in the late 1800s , and is credited for all of the giant world - record - hold pumpkins grown.• ‘ PrizeWinner Hybrid ’ , a large competition - size variety.• ‘ Big Max ’ , ditto.• ‘ Australian Blue ’ , a rare Australian heirloom.• ‘ Queensland Blue ’ , a well - known Australian blue - gray - skinned pumpkin.• ‘ Marina di Chioggia ’ , an honest-to-goodness Italian heirloom.• ‘ Red Kuri ’ ( also telephone ‘ Baby Red Hubbard ’ ) , a Japanese variety .

Cucurbita Mixta(C. mixta )

The type of pumpkin bonk as Cucurbita Mixta includes the miniature smorgasbord Cucurbita pepo . These are often used in guile or as ornamental table decorations during Fall holidays . Their shapes can include egg , circular or pear - like . The colour of these are also unusual . They can be white , blue or depressed - green , in accession to the familiar orange or yellow . Some of the hull - less and seedless varieties go to this kinsperson . These diversity easy for nestling to handle and fun to decorate with .

• The Cushaw Cucurbita pepo , also ring the Cushaw squash , is one of the best known mixture . They are pear - shaped with a striped peel in unripe , chicken , orange tree or white.• ‘ Baby Bear ’ , which has “ handles”.• ‘ Jack B. Little ’ , also shorten as “ JBL ” , attend like a midget orange tree pumpkin vine with a flat top.• ‘ We Be small ’ , a effective miscellanea for pumpkin Proto-Indo European filling and baking as a dessert .

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