CUCURBITACEiE. 



146 



CuoTTEBiTA PEPO (Pumpkin). 



the C maxima is an American plant, and says it lia.s heen carried thence by 

 colonists to the Tacific islands, to southern Asia, and to Europe and Africa. 

 If this he so, it leaves us in the dark as to what the C". maxima known to the 

 ancients was. 



.'). C. pepo, L. (Pumpkin.) Stem jjrostrate, 5 to 20 feet long, rough, hairy, 

 sparingly branched, with branched tendrils. Leaves large, 9 to 13 inches long, 

 and 5 to 10 wide, heart- or kidney-shaped, 5-lobed. Flowers yellow and axil- 

 lary. Fruit cheese-shaped or club-shaped, or sub-glotnilar, on deeply grooved 

 peduncles, flesh yellow, sweet, solid, but not hard ; cavity of the fruit filled with 

 a stringy pulp aud seeds. 

 Flowers in July ; fruit 

 ripens in October. 



Varieties. — There are 

 many varieties of the 

 Pumpkin under cultivation, 

 the most popular of which 

 are the following : — 



Cheese Pianpkhi, which , 



is flattened at the poles, < 

 and from 10 to 20 inches 

 in diameter, and 4 to 10 

 inches from pole to pole, 

 deeply ribbed, dished about 

 the stem, skin reddish- 

 orange color, leathery ; 

 flesh yellow, sweet, aud del- 

 icate. The cheese pump- 

 kin holds the highest place among the varieties of this plant, on account 

 of its hardy character, its size, productiveness, and the delicacy of its flesh. 

 It has been claimed that it is a variety of the C. maxima, brought to America 

 by European colonists; but iiistory favors the belief that it is an American 

 plant. It was extensively cultivated throughout the Middle States at the time 

 of the Kevolutionary War, and was carried to New England by the soldiers 

 returning home from service in New Jersey, southern Pennsylvania, and adja- 

 cent states further south, where it is still found growing, with great constancy 

 as to form, size, and qualities, though the cultivation has been in many cases 

 careless and slovenly. 



Camuhi Ptunpkin is in the form of a flattened globe, deeply ribbed. 10 to 

 15 inches in diameter, and 8 to 10 inches at the poles. Skin yellow and hard ; 

 flesh yellow. Mucli cultivated for cattle, and also for table use. It grows 

 better in a higher latitude than the cheese pumpkin. 



Common Field Pumpkin, or Leather Pack. Globose, ends flattened, rather 

 longer than broad, 10 to 14 inches long, and 8 to 12 in diameter. Grown 

 for stock, and sparingly for the table. Kibbed, yellow; skin hard, flesli 

 yellow. Leaves deeply lobed. 



Sugar Pumpkin. Grows in the form of a flattened sphere, about 9 inches 

 in diameter, and 6 at the poles. The smallest of the varieties under culti- 

 vation ; a prolific bearer, and of excellent (piality. Grooved skin, bright 

 orange-yellow; flesh yellow, sweet, delicate, and finegrained. Stem long, 

 ridged, and grooved. 



There are other varieties, but the above are the favorites, and most impor- 

 tant to gardeners and agriculturists. 

 PR. Fl. — 11 



