fruits & vegetables :: NATURALIZED, CULTIVATED :: Cucurbitaceae » Cucurbita maxima

[Dinesh Valke]

Cucurbitaceae (pumpkin, or gourd family) » Cucurbita maxima


koo-KER-bih-ta -- Latin name for the gourd
MAKS-ih-muh -- largest


commonly known as: giant pumpkin, great pumpkin, melon pumpkin, pumpkin, red gourd, red pumpkin, squash, squash gourd, turks cap gourd, winter squash • Assamese: ৰঙা ranga • Bengali: চালকুমড়ো calakumro, কুষ্মাণ্ড kusmanda • Gujarati: લાલ કોળું lal kolu • Hindi: लाल कद्दू lal kaddu, लाल कुम्हड़ा lal qumra, काशीफल kashiphal • Kannada: ಕಂದು ಗುಬಳ kandu gumbala, ಕುಂಬಳಕಾಯಿ kumbalakaayi, ಕೂಷ್ಮಾಂಡ kushmaanda • Kashmiri: अल् al, तुम्बी tumbi • Konkani: दुद्दे dudde • Lushai: lêng-kêl mai • Malayalam: vellarimathan • Manipuri: mairel • Marathi: लाल भोपळा lal bhopala, तांबडा भोपळा tambada bhopala • Mizo: mai • Oriya: kumda, mai • Punjabi: ਹਲਵਾ ਕਦੂੱ halwa kaddu, ਮਿੱਠਾ ਕਦੂੱ mittha kaddu • Sanskrit: कुष्माण्डकः kusmandakah, पीतकुष्माण्डः pitakusmandah • Tamil: சர்க்கரைப்பூசணி carkkarai-p-pucani, சீமைப்பூசனி cimai-p-pucani, பறங்கிக்காய் paranki-k-kay • Telugu: గుమ్మడి gummadi


Native of: s South America; widely cultivated; occasionally found as an escape


Edible use:

... the fruit (as VEGETABLE)
... most parts of the pumpkin are edible, including the fleshy shell, the seeds, the leaves, and even the flowers ... Wikipedia

some facts:

... one of the most diverse domesticated species, perhaps with more cultivated forms than any other crop
... all giant pumpkins (100+ lbs) are of this species, including the largest pumpkins ever documented, which have attained a size of over 1750 lbs.
Quoted from Wikipedia

[Gurcharan Singh]

Any chance of mature fruit of this very plant?

It would be interesting.

-- 
Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Retired  Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007
Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018.
Phone: 011-25518297  Mob: 9810359089
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ 

On Sun, Jan 2, 2011 at 10:36 AM, Dinesh Valke <dinesh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Cucurbitaceae (pumpkin, or gourd family) » Cucurbita maxima


koo-KER-bih-ta -- Latin name for the gourd
MAKS-ih-muh -- largest

commonly known as: giant pumpkin, great pumpkin, melon pumpkin, pumpkin, red gourd, red pumpkin, squash, squash gourd, turks cap gourd, winter squash • Assamese: ৰঙা ranga • Bengali: চালকুমড়ো calakumro, কুষ্মাণ্ড kusmanda • Gujarati: લાલ કોળું lal kolu • Hindi: लाल कद्दू lal kaddu, लाल कुम्हड़ा lal qumra, काशीफल kashiphal • Kannada: ಕಂದು ಗುಬಳ kandu gumbala, ಕುಂಬಳಕಾಯಿ kumbalakaayi, ಕೂಷ್ಮಾಂಡ kushmaanda • Kashmiri: अल् al, तुम्बी tumbi • Konkani: दुद्दे dudde • Lushai: lêng-kêl mai • Malayalam: vellarimathan • Manipuri: mairel • Marathi: लाल भोपळा lal bhopala, तांबडा भोपळा tambada bhopala • Mizo: mai • Oriya: kumda, mai • Punjabi: ਹਲਵਾ ਕਦੂੱ halwa kaddu, ਮਿੱਠਾ ਕਦੂੱ mittha kaddu • Sanskrit: कुष्माण्डकः kusmandakah, पीतकुष्माण्डः pitakusmandah • Tamil: சர்க்கரைப்பூசணி carkkarai-p-pucani, சீமைப்பூசனி cimai-p-pucani, பறங்கிக்காய் paranki-k-kay • Telugu: గుమ్మడి gummadi