Cucurbita foetidissima

Cucurbita foetidissima male flower

Cucurbita foetidissima is a plant belonging to the gourd family ( Cucurbitaceae ), which is native to North America.

Features

Cucurbita foetidissima is a perennial, herbaceous plant. It has a yellow, flesh taproot of often more than 15 cm in diameter and 1.5 m length. From up to 70 kg root emanate from one to 30 shoots that grow up to 12 feet long. Streamers can take root and multiply as vegetative.

The vines branch out more than an inch above the base. The leaves are thick, about 15 to 30 inches tall, triangular -ovate, with heart-shaped or trimmed base. They are only slightly lobed. The color of the leaves are gray - green. They have an unpleasant smell, especially after trituration. The leaf margin is sharply toothed.

The species is gynodiözisch, that is, there are all-female plants and plants carrying both male and female flowers. Often the species is also described as monoecious. The flowers appear singly in leaf axils. The corolla is 9-12 inches tall. Bloom time is June to August. The fruit has a diameter of seven to eight centimeters, round, green, speckled with white stripes. The seeds are white and 12 to 14 millimeters in size.

The chromosome number is 2n = 40

Flowers Ecology

The flowers are only open for a morning. Pollination is mainly by bees of the genera Peponapis and Xenoglossa, but also by honey bees of the genus Apis.

Dissemination

The species occurs in much of the U.S. and in northern Mexico. It grows best in sandy or gravelly sites up to 1300 m above sea level in the arid desert. Frequently grows along with Kreosotbüschen. In some areas of the U.S., it has developed on disturbed sites such as roadsides for weeds.

Use

The drought tolerance of the species has led to attempts to grow them commercially and breed. It provides a high number of seeds, which are oil -and protein- rich. The leaves can be fed to cattle, the roots provide carbohydrates. Despite considerable research effort, the species is not grown commercially.

The whole plant is rich in Cucurbitacinen, and was used variously medically by the Indians. The content of triterpene saponins led to the use of the fruit as soap.

Documents

• James C. Hickman (ed.): The Jepson Manual. Higher Plants of California. University of California Press, 1993. (Online) (characteristics, distribution )
• R. W. Robinson, D. S. Decker -Walters: cucurbits. CAB International, Wallingford 1997, p 83 ISBN 0-85199-133-5 ( use)
• James A. Winsor, Shani Peretz, Andrew G. Stephenson: Pollen competition in a natural population of Cucurbita foetidissima ( Cucurbitaceae ). American Journal of Botany, Volume 87, 2000, pp. 527-532. (Abstract and full text) (characteristics, ecology flowers )