Cucurbita maxima

Cucurbita maxima
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Cucurbita
Species:	C. maxima
Binomial name
Cucurbita maxima Duchesne
Subspecies
C. maxima subsp. andreana C. maxima subsp. maxima
Synonyms[1]
Cucumis rapallito Carrière Cucumis zapallito Carrière Cucurbita farinae Mozz. ex Naudin Cucurbita maxima var. triloba Millán Cucurbita maxima var. turgida L.H.Bailey Cucurbita maxima var. zapallito (Carrière) Millán Cucurbita maxima var. zipinka Millán Cucurbita pileiformis M.Roem. Cucurbita rapallito Carrière Cucurbita sulcata Blanco Cucurbita turbaniformis M.Roem. Cucurbita zapallito Carrière Pepo maximus Peterm. Pileocalyx elegans Gasp.

Cucurbita maxima, one of at least five species of cultivated

Different squash types of this species were introduced into North America as early as the 16th century. By the American Revolution, the species was in cultivation by Native American tribes throughout the present-day United States. By the early 19th century, at least three varieties are known to have been commercially introduced in North America from seeds obtained from Native Americans.^[5]

Types

Subspecies andreana

At one time considered a separate species, andreana has been placed by modern biosystematics as a subspecies of C. maxima. It is native to Argentina and Uruguay and is the ancestor of the domesticated forms. C. andreana fruits are smaller and not palatable.^[5][3] It hybridizes readily with individuals of other C. maxima subspecies.

C. maxima subsp. andreana has notably different

It was first formally described by Charles Victor Naudin in 1896, in Revue Horticole.^[9]

Cultivars

• Arikara squash weighs from four to eleven pounds with a teardrop or round shape with a mottled orange and green color pattern. It is used both for its eating qualities and as decoration. This variety traces its ancestry to the Arikara tribe of the Dakotas, among whom its cultivation predates white settlement.^{[citation needed}
  ]
• Banana squash
  has an elongated shape, with light blue, pink, or orange skin and bright orange flesh.
• Boston marrow is sweet, narrow at one end, and bulbous at the other.^[10]
• Buttercup squash has a turban shape (a flattish top) and dark green skin, weighs three to five pounds, and features dense, yellow-orange flesh. Not to be confused with butternut squash
  .
• Charlotte Observer newspaper of Charlotte, North Carolina provides an account of two candy roaster varieties at a Cherokee fair that were both of similar shape and size to a Catawba watermelon, one being colored like a citron melon and the other "pumpkin color".^[14]
• Hubbard squash usually has a tear-drop shape and is often used as a replacement for pumpkins in cooking. According to one source,^[15] the name comes from Bela Hubbard, settler of Randolph Township, Ohio, in the Connecticut Western Reserve. Other sources conclude that this variety came to Marblehead, Massachusetts via Captain Knott Martin where Elizabeth Hubbard brought it to the attention of her neighbor, a seed trader named James J. H. Gregory. Gregory subsequently introduced it to the market using Hubbard as the eponym. Gregory later bred and released the Blue Hubbard, a variety with bluish-gray skin. Another variety, the Golden Hubbard, has a bright orange skin. Gregory advertisements for Hubbard squash had begun by 1859.^[16][17][18] The Hubbard squash, including questions regarding the name, is the subject of a children's ditty, "Raising Hubbard Squash in Vermont".^[19]
• Jarrahdale pumpkin is a pumpkin with gray skin that is nearly identical to Queensland Blue and Sweet Meat_(squash) varieties.
• Kabocha is a Japanese variety with dark green skin and bright golden-orange flesh.
• Lakota squash
  is an American variety.
• Nanticoke people of Delaware and Eastern Maryland. It is one of only a few surviving Native American winter squashes from the Eastern woodlands.^[20]
• Turban squash, also known as "French turban", predates 1820 and is closely related to the buttercup squash.^[21]

Uses

Buttercup squash, a common cultivar, can be roasted, baked, and mashed into soups, among a variety of filler uses, much like pumpkin. It is extremely popular, especially as a soup, in Brazil, Colombia, and Africa.

All giant pumpkins (over 300 pounds or 140 kilograms) are of this species, including the largest pumpkins ever documented, which have attained a size of 2,702.9 pounds (1,226.0 kg) as of 2021^[update].^[22]

The seed of C. maxima is used in treating parasites in animals.^[23]

Cultivation

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: sources might be outdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2022)

Since this plant requires a fair amount of hot weather for best growth, it has not become very well established in northern Europe, the British Isles, or in similar areas with short or cool summers.^[4]

The ideal soil pH range for cultivation ranges from 6.0 to 6.8.

Recommended spacing can vary depending on the specific variety, but generally, plants are spaced around 3–5 feet apart in rows that are approximately 6–10 feet apart. Planting depth of around 1–2 inches.

Fertilization should be carried out based on soil test results and specific crop nutrient requirements.^[24]

Many cultivars of Cucurbita maxima have been developed. Only long-vining plants are known in this species.^[4] As in C. pepo, plants exist with a "bush habit" that is particularly evident in young plants, but older plants grow in the wild-type vining manner.^[25]

Gallery

• 
  Typical "Zapallito" summer squash fruit.
• 
  A vining cultivar growing up to a roof.

References