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Cucurbita pepo L.  
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Squash, more...Zucchini & other Squashes, Field Pumpkin, Summer Squash, Gourd, Winter Squash, Acorn Squash (es: cabeza de turco, chicayote)
[Cucumis pepo]
Cucurbita pepo image
Paul Rothrock
  • vPlants
  • Resources
The Morton Arboretum
Annual herbaceous vine to several meters long Stem: coarse and rough-hairy. Leaves: alternate, stalked, 15 - 30 cm long, triangular to egg-shaped in outline with a pointed tip, shallowly to deeply lobed, irregularly toothed, rough-hairy. Flowers: either male or female, found on the same plant (monoecious), borne solitary in leaf axils on a strongly angled stalk, with fused yellow petals ending in erect to spreading pointed lobes. Fruit: an orange, furrowed, large berry with a thick rind (pepo). The many seeds are white to tan-white, 10 - 18 mm long, less than 1.3 cm wide, elliptic, and have a raised margin. Tendrils: branched.

Similar species: Cucurbita foetidissima has unpleasantly scented leaves and recurved petal lobes. Citrullus lantanus and Cucumis melo have flowers that are flat and circular in outline. Additionally, C. lantanus has deeply pinnate-lobed leaves, and C. melo has unbranched tendrils. Cucurbita pepo var. ovifera has smaller leaves and smaller fruit than the typical variety, and the fruit can be found in various shapes and colors.

Flowering: August

Habitat and ecology: Native to Mexico and the eastern United States, this species is sometimes found in dumpsites and along roadsides.

Occurence in the Chicago region: non-native

Etymology: Cucurbita is the Latin name for a gourd. Pepo is the Latin word for a kind of melon and is derived from the Greek word pepon, meaning ripe.

Author: The Morton Arboretum

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Open Interactive Map
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Paul Rothrock
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Paul Rothrock
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Paul Rothrock
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The National Science Foundation
Development supported by National Science Foundation Grants (DBI 9983132, BRC 0237418, DBI 0743827, DBI 0847966)
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