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Begonias, Gourds, and Allies of Zihuatanejo

ORDER CUCURBITALES

Cushaw Pumpkin

-Plants (Kingdom Plantae)

-Vascular Plants (Phylum Tracheophyta)

-Flowering Plants (Subphylum Angiospermae)

-Dicots (Class Magnoliopsida)

-Begonias, Gourds, and Allies (Order Cucurbitales)

-Gourd Family (Family Cucurbitaceae)

-Tribe Cucurbiteae

-Gourds (Genus Cucurbita)

-Cushaw Pumpkin (Cucurbita argyrosperma)


In Mexico, Cucurbita argyrosperma—the cushaw pumpkin—exists not only as a cultivated crop but also in feral and semi-wild populations, especially across tropical and subtropical regions of the Pacific coast and interior lowlands. These wild-growing plants are typically found in disturbed habitats such as field edges, fallow milpa plots, riverbanks, roadsides, and open areas within tropical dry forest. Rather than forming deep, untouched wild populations, they persist as escaped descendants of cultivated plants or as part of a continuum between domesticated and wild forms. Many wild fruits are harder, more fibrous, and sometimes bitter, reflecting a reversion toward ancestral traits.

Cucurbita argyrosperma

Flowers by Colour
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