Vegetables

Acorn Squash		Butternut Squash
	Summer Squash
Spaghetti Squash		American Pumpkin

The species of the genus Cucurbita, belonging to the Cucurbitaceae are herbaceous plants of great size, with long, vinelike shoots bearing tendrils. Cucurbita plants are monoecious, that is, with unisexual flowers borne on the same plant; the staminate (male) flowers have anthers; the solitary pistillate (female) flowers, have an inferior or semi-inferior ovary in the varieties turbaniformis or pileiformis, formed by three carpels and with a short, three-lobed style. The fruit, like that of the other plants of the gourd family, is a large berry, sometimes with a very tough skin or rind, called more specifically a "pepo." Within the cultivated forms of the genus Cucurbita are distinguished four principal species as follows: Malabar squash (Cucurbita ficifolia), a perennial plant of large size, with black seeds, grown only in the tropical regions, usually for ornamental purposes. Crookneck squash, cushaw, Canada crookneck squash (Cucurbita moschata), with flabby leaves, and with the calyx tube very short or not present. Winter squash (Cucurbita maxima), with stiff, round-lobed leaves, and with the calyx tube campanulate. Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo), with deeply lobed leaves. An important feature distinguishing Cucurbita maxima from Cucurbita pepo is provided by the peduncle which is cylindrical in the former while it is particularly short, obtuse, and many-sided in the latter. The terracotta color of the rind is typical of these squashes, as is, in the sectioned fruit, the orange color of the flesh and the characteristic neck stuffed with a compact tissue, while the spongy tissue containing the seeds is limited to the upper part. The upper part is so named because, in interpreting the parts of a fruit, the original position of the ovary from which the fruit is formed must be remembered. These forms of Cucurbita moschata are best when fried in oil or baked. Their fine, silky pulp makes them unsuitable for boiling. In recent years a new cultivar of Cucurbita moschata, the butternut squash, has become popular in the United States. In the United States there is a winter form of Cucurbita pepo called the acorn or Des Moines squash. It is 4 - 6 inches long and 3 - 4 inches thick with a dark green ribbed skin. It is often cut in half and baked and served as a side dish. Table Queen and Table King are good cultivars of this variety. Mush more interesting is the cultivar of Cucurbita pepo commonly called American Pumpkin, although it is in Italy that it is most cultivated. Its uses and culinary qualities are similar to those of Cucurbita moschata. Pumpkin cultivars are much in demand for making the famous American pumpkin pie, and are also used at Halloween, for the making of jack-o-lanterns. [Bianchini, Francesco, Corbetta, Francesco, Pistoia, Marilena, The Complete Book of Fruits and Vegetables, United States Translation: Crown Publishers, New York, 1976; Originally published in Italy as I Frutti della Terra, Arnoldo Mondadori Publisher, Italy, 1973]