Cucurbita

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 world. 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.

References

• "Cucurbita". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. 6 November. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• 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.

External Links

• Coyote Melon Pictures and Information at blackturtle.us