Cucurbita maxima

Giant pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima)

The giant pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) is a cultivated plant of the gourd family ( Cucurbitaceae ). It provides the largest fruits of the plant kingdom.

Features

The giant gourd is an annual, herbaceous plant with long climbing rungs. Some cultivated varieties grow bushy. It forms tendrils. The shoot axis is round and soft. The leaves are approximately circular, at least not clearly lobed. The corolla lobes of the flowers are turned outward.

The fruits are berries tanks, very variable and can reach several hundred kilograms of weight. The color is orange, green or gray, the surface smooth or ribbed. The shape is round to oval. The seeds are usually large, thick, white or brown, wavy or smooth. The fruit stalk is short, spongy, almost cylindrical.

Of the other cultivars of pumpkin types, it can be distinguished by the following features: the fruit stalk is soft, round, often corky and widens not on fruit set. The stem is soft and round. The leaves are not lobed and soft. The seeds are white to brown, often thick. The seed surface is sometimes wrinkled. The seeds scar is wrong.

Dissemination

The wild form is native to Argentina and Uruguay. In pre-Columbian he was widely distributed in South America, today it is cultivated worldwide. The giant pumpkin bear more cold than the other pumpkin species, but no longer periods of frost. Therefore, it is grown in the higher latitudes and higher altitudes than musk and garden pumpkin.

System

The wild form is a subspecies Cucurbita maxima subsp. andreana ( Naud. ) Filov of the cultivated subspecies subsp. maxima separated. The wild form is characterized by bitter fruits.

Within the cultivated subspecies, many of the varieties can be classified in an informal scheme that is based on the fruit shape and includes the following groups of varieties:

  • Banana: fruit long, pointed at both ends, with soft bark and brown seeds.
  • Delicious: turban -like fruit, slightly ribbed, with a hard rind and white seeds.
  • Hubbard: Oval fruit, curved necks at both ends, very hard bark and white seeds.
  • Marrow: Oval to pear shaped fruit, rapidly narrowing at the top, gradually at the base, with white seeds.
  • Show: large, orange fruits with soft bark and white seeds.
  • Turban: turban -shaped fruit, which arises because the top part of the flower is not surrounded by flowers ground tissue of the ovary that is not entirely under constant.

Individual varieties are:

  • The variety ' Buttercup ' is a widespread, long-keeping variety ( winter squash ). The fruit is dark green with an overgrowth at the flower end, it belongs to the turban group.
  • The Hokkaido pumpkin is an orange, kleinfrüchtigere also storable winter squash variety with a nutty flavor. When cooking the thin shell is soft and can be consumed.
  • ' Turk's Turban ' has very colorful fruits, which are used as decoration or as a winter squash.
  • ' Hubbard ' delivers large, oval fruits that are easy to store and have good quality. There are orange, green and gray forms. The variety was introduced in 1856 from South America to New England.
  • For competitions have mostly been the two varieties ' Big Max ' and ' Prize Winner' used.

Both varieties produce large, orange fruits up to a maximum weight of 100 kg, ' Prize Winner' has a beautiful color.

  • The largest fruits provides the variety ' Atlantic Giant ', a selection from the heaviest fruits ( and crossing each other ) over a period of about 30 years, started by the American breeder Howard Dill.

All current competitions are won fruits of this variety. The current world record (2011) is 1818.5 lbs ( 824.86 kg), erected by Mr. Bryson from Quebec, Canada.

Use

The pulp is processed or frozen into cakes ( pumpkin pie ) or canned food, as well as gardening and Butternut Squash. Furthermore, it can be cooked as a soup. Preferably giant pumpkin is due to its fiber poverty and his taste for the production of baby food. At Halloween Giant pumpkins are hollowed out and lit.

History

The giant gourd was domesticated in South America, the Andes, and is called here zapallo. The Vielfältigkeitszentrum located in northern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Peru and northern Chile. In the 15th century it was spread northwards throughout the warm climate influence of the Incas. In the 18th century it was brought into the northeastern United States, where he is very popular today, especially in New England. Today, the giant pumpkin is grown worldwide, especially in South America, India, Europe, Philippines, USA and Africa.

Documents

  • R. W. Robinson, D. S. Decker -Walters: cucurbits. CAB International, Wallingford 1997, pp. 71-83. ISBN 0-85199-133-5
  • Office of International Affairs (ed. ): Lost Crops of the Incas: Little -Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation. National Academy Press 1989, p 204 ISBN 0-309-07461-4 (online ) (story)
Rosids Genus Antoine Nicolas Duchesne Jean Louis Marie Poiret Integrated Authority File
209272
de