Cucurbita maxima

File:Cucurbita maxima subsp. andreana compose.jpg

File:Cucurbita maxima subsp. andreana - frutos de varios tipos.jpg

{{As of|2024|October}}, Cucurbita andreana is accepted as a separate species by some sources,{{Cite POWO|title=Cucurbita andreana Naudin|id=72083-2|access-date=2024-10-29|mode=cs1}} and a subspecies of C. maxima by others. It was first formally described by Charles Victor Naudin in 1896, in Revue Horticole.{{GRIN |name=Cucurbita andreana |id=12584 |accessdate=29 October 2024}} It is native to Argentina and Uruguay and is the ancestor of the domesticated forms. C. andreana fruits are smaller and not palatable. It hybridizes readily with individuals of other C. maxima subspecies.

C. maxima subsp. andreana has notably different calcium levels than individuals of other C. maxima subspecies.{{cite journal|last1=Skilnyk|first1=Hilary R.|last2=Lott|first2=John N. A.|title=Mineral analyses of storage reserves of Cucurbita maxima and Cucurbita andreana pollen|journal=Canadian Journal of Botany|year=1992|volume=70|issue=3|pages=491–495|doi=10.1139/b92-063|bibcode=1992CaJB...70..491S }} C. andreana has yellow flowers and bright green striped fruit. Extrafloral nectaries are present in C. maxima but not necessarily in C. andreana.{{cite journal|last1=López-Anido|first1=Fernando |last2=Vesprini|first2=José|year=2007|title=Extrafloral Nectaries in Cucurbita maxima Sub. andreana (Naudin) Filov|url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc30/2007toc.html|journal= Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report|publisher=North Carolina State University|location=Raleigh, NC|volume=30|pages=38–42}}

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• 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|date=February 2023}}
• 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.rareseeds.com/boston-marrow-s/|title=Boston Marrow Squash|publisher=Rare Seeds|access-date=September 3, 2013|archive-date=June 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622002356/http://www.rareseeds.com/boston-marrow-s/|url-status=dead}}
• 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.
• Candy roaster squash is a landrace developed by the Cherokee people in the southern Appalachians. A United States Department of Agriculture accession in 1960 notes that Candy Roasters had been grown for more than 100 years as of that date.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/plantinventory168170agri |title=Plant Inventory No. 168 |date=1967 |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture}} It is variable in size and shape with more than 40 distinct forms according to one authority.{{Cite book |last=Best |first=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-RlrT8gQJIC |title=Saving Seeds, Preserving Taste: Heirloom Seed Savers in Appalachia |date=2013-04-15 |publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0-8214-4462-7 |language=en}} Candy roasters consistently feature fine-textured orange flesh, while varying in size (from 10 lbs to more than 250 lbs); shape (including round, cylindrical, teardrop, and blocky); and color (pink, tan, green, blue, gray, and orange).{{Cite journal |last1=Dwivedi |first1=Sangam |last2=Goldman |first2=Irwin |last3=Ortiz |first3=Rodomiro |date=August 2019 |title=Pursuing the Potential of Heirloom Cultivars to Improve Adaptation, Nutritional, and Culinary Features of Food Crops |journal=Agronomy |language=en |volume=9 |issue=8 |pages=441 |doi=10.3390/agronomy9080441 |issn=2073-4395|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019Agron...9..441D }} An article in the 1925 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".{{Cite news |date=October 31, 1925 |title=The Candy Roaster |pages=8 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://charlotteobserver.newspapers.com/image/616615490/?terms=the%20candy%20roaster&match=1 |access-date=February 3, 2023}}
• Hubbard squash usually has a tear-drop shape and is often used as a replacement for pumpkins in cooking. According to one source,{{cite book|last=Troyer|first= Loris C.|title=Portage Pathways|page=8|publisher= Kent State University Press|location=Kent, OH|year=1998|isbn=978-0-87338-600-5}} 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.{{cite book|last=Watson|first=Ben|title=Taylor's Guides to Heirloom Vegetables: A Complete Guide to the Best Historic and Ethnic Varieties|page=[https://archive.org/details/taylorsguidetohe00benj/page/268 268]|year=1996|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcour|location=Boston|isbn=978-0-395-70818-7|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/taylorsguidetohe00benj/page/268}}{{cite web |last1=Kelley Worrell |first1=Shari |last2=Lovett Gregory Kelley Flude |first2=Norma |title=James J. H. Gregory: A Timeline of his life |url=http://www.saveseeds.org/biography/gregory/ |access-date=8 May 2024 |website=Saveseeds.org |publisher=Victory Horticultural Library}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpQAAAAAYAAJ&q=Hubbard+Squash&pg=RA6-PA4|title=The Horticulturalist, and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste|last=Downing|first=Andrew Jackson|date=May 1859|page=4|volume=14|publisher=C. M. Saxton, Barker & Co.|location=New York}} The Hubbard squash, including questions regarding the name, is the subject of a children's ditty, "Raising Hubbard Squash in Vermont".{{cite book|last=Cady|first=Daniel Leavens|title=Rhymes of Vermont Rural Life|location=Rutland, VT|publisher=The Tuttle Company|year=1919|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h0tFAAAAIAAJ&q=Hubbard+Squash&pg=PA100|page=100}}
• Jarrahdale pumpkin is a pumpkin with gray skin that is nearly identical to Queensland Blue (though has more water content when roasted) and Sweet Meat_(squash) varieties.
• JAP (or Kent) Pumpkin is the most common "pumpkin" eaten in Australia (known in other countries as a winter squash) it has a mottled/stripy dark green and cream skin. The flesh is a bright orange and the vines have been known to grow up to 15 fruit on them of at least 2 kg each. Known to grow in a wide variety of climates, it is favoured by backyard growers. Is as its best when roasted, the skin, flesh, and seeds are all edible.
• Kabocha is a Japanese variety with dark green skin and bright golden-orange flesh.
• Lakota squash is an American variety.
• Nanticoke squash was grown by the Nanticoke people of Delaware and Eastern Maryland. It is one of only a few surviving Native American winter squashes from the Eastern woodlands.{{Cite web |title=Nanticoke Squash |url=https://store.experimentalfarmnetwork.org/products/nanticoke-squash |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=Experimental Farm Network Seed Store |language=en}}
• Turban squash, also known as "French turban", predates 1820 and is closely related to the buttercup squash.{{Cite web |title=What Is Turban Squash and How Is It Used? |url=https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-turban-squash-5199213 |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=The Spruce Eats |language=en}}

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 {{convert|300|lb|disp=or}}) are of this species, including the largest pumpkins ever documented, which have attained a size of {{convert|2,749.0|lb}} {{as of|lc=y|2023}}.{{cite web|url=https://gpc1.org/gpc-champions/guinness-records/guinness-pumpkins/|title=Guinness World Record Pumpkins|publisher= gpc1.org|access-date=July 5, 2023}}

The seed of C. maxima is used in treating parasites in animals.{{cite journal|last1=Díaz |first1=Obregón D.|last2=Lloja |first2=Lozano L.|last3=Carbajal |first3=Zúñiga V.|language=es|journal=Revista de Gastroenterologia del Perú|title=Preclinical studies of cucurbita maxima (pumpkin seeds) a traditional intestinal antiparasitic in rural urban areas|year=2004|volume=24|issue=4|pages=323–327|pmid=15614300}}

{{Update section|reason=sources might be outdated|date=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.

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.{{Cite web |title=How to Grow and Care for Winter Squash |url=https://www.thespruce.com/cucurbita-maxima-winter-squash-guide-5201845 |access-date=2023-05-26 |website=The Spruce |language=en}}

Many cultivars of Cucurbita maxima have been developed. Only long-vining plants are known in this species.Victor E. Boswell and Else Bostelmann. "Our Vegetable Travelers." The National Geographic Magazine. 96.2: August 1949. 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.{{cite web |url=http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgcgenes/gene92squash.html |title=Gene List for Cucurbita spp. |author=Mark G. Hutton and R. W. Robinson |access-date=16 November 2014}}

File:Cucurbita maxima var. zapallito germplasm bank IPK code MAX 301 - 8 days after anthesis.jpg|Typical "Zapallito" summer squash fruit

File:Cucurbita maxima Zapallo Plomo semillería Costanzi - 2014 03 28 - squash H I N P on the roof.JPG|A vining cultivar growing up to a roof

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• {{Wikispecies-inline|Cucurbita maxima}}
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{{Squashes and pumpkins}}

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Category:Squashes and pumpkins

maxima