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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Pie Pumpkins

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  • From: Bill Shoemaker <wshoemak AT illinois.edu>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Pie Pumpkins
  • Date: Tue, 3 Nov 2009 06:54:33 -0600 (CST)

> Also it
> seems there is some dispute as to what species a
> squash can belong to be called a true pumpkin but
> nobody seems to agree about that either.

I think it comes down to tensions between popular use and botanical criteria.
As Bob mentioned yesterday there are botanical criteria one can point to that
distinguish species. There are three natural species; pepo, moschata and
maxima, plus a hybrid species; mixta. But popular usage has less clear lines
of distinction. Jack o'lanterns are C. pepo, but so are zucchini and acorn
squash. But then there are squash from the C. moschata species; butternut.
There are also squash from the C. maxima family; buttercup. But there are
also C. maxima pumpkins, like Atlantic Giant. However some people call those
squash. In the end, you just try to find common lines of discussion.

Bill
William H Shoemaker, UI-Crop Sciences
Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
St Charles Horticulture Research Center
535 Randall Road St Charles, IL 60174
630-584-7254; FAX-584-4610




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