Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
'Boston Marrow'
marrow squash
'Hokkaido'
red kuri squash
'Turk's Turban'
turban squash
Cucurbita moschata
'Cobnut'
butternut squash
'Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck'
neck pumpkin
A TANGLE OF TERMS
The term “squash,” an indigenous American word meaning “young, unripe, and
raw,” is the general umbrella term for the edible fruits of
Cucurbita pepo
,
C. maxima
,
C. moschata
,
C.
ficifolia
, and
C. argyrosperma
. The term “gourd” is loosely reserved for inedible fruits of the cucurbit
Lagenaria siceraria
(bottle gourd, birdhouse), which see. Yet this distinction is not so clear, as there
are, for example,
C. ficifolia
fruits that are called gourds and deliciously edible
L. siceraria
fruits
called squashes (opo squash).
Further confusion arises with the terms “pumpkin,” “summer squash,” and “winter squash.” Pump-
kin is not a botanical but rather a physiological term; it is applied freely to any squash that looks like a
pumpkin. The word itself is an alteration of the Old English
pumpion
, itself a twist on the French
pom-
pon
, which is derived from the Greek
pepon
. Pumpkins are usually varieties of
Cucurbita pepo
—but
not always: the giant pumpkins of pumpkin-growing contests are usually
C. maxima
, and there are also
C. moschata
and
C. ficifolia
pumpkins. Some pumpkins are considered edible; others are not, due to
their high cucurbitacin content.
Female (left) and male squash flowers
Summer squashes are certain
Cucurbita pepo
squash varieties grown for their soft, immature fruits
for eating over the summer; zucchini is the best known. Winter squash, often reserved for
C. maxima
,
can equally refer to squashes of any species that are grown to maturity and thus store longer than sum-
mer squashes. The storage life of winter squash varieties ranges widely, from several weeks under
ideal conditions for some, to several months for others.
KNOW WHAT YOU GROW
The ability to tell the species apart is vital when growing squash for seed.
Squash plants, which are outcrossers, cross readily with others of the same species but only rarely with
others of a different species. So, for example, a pumpkin can cross with a zucchini (both are
Cucurbita
