Dear friends There are hundreds of cultivars of Cucurbita and species are often difficult to identify. More difficult is the fact that any species can go under the name pumpkin, squash or gourd. Flowers and leaves are not often great help. I am uploading few to show the differences. The species can be identified by the structure of the tip of pedicel where it is attached to the base on fruit.
1. Cucurbita maxima....it is soft and not expanded at tip 2. Cucurbita moschata..it is expanded angular pad, with a small constriction between pad and fruit. 3. Cucurbita pepo: it is expanded with extended fingers firmly attached to fruit. <https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OphzYmMtsh0/T3kiOzh_4NI/AAAAAAAAAlw/m9aapO2DeQY/s1600/Cucurbita-maxima-Cinderella%2Bpumpkin-California-1.jpg> Cucurbita-maxima-Cinderella+pumpkin-California-1 <https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hFyn0HhvRc4/T3kimiRg1LI/AAAAAAAAAl8/hISHIOM3ZNU/s1600/Cucurbita-maxima-Kabocha%2Bsquash-California-1.jpg> Cucurbita-maxima-Kabocha+squash-California-1 <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jT1VH60evq8/T3ki5S02n2I/AAAAAAAAAmI/YNFjEm6pkRY/s1600/Cucurbita-moschata-butternut%2Bsquash-California-3.jpg> Cucurbita-maxima-Kabocha+squash-California-1 <https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-qf6YMv8q14E/T3kjJe6XgQI/AAAAAAAAAmU/JRqOZDOVghE/s1600/Cucurbita-moschata-Butternut%2Bsquash-Califorrnia-5.jpg> Cucurbita-moschata-Butternut+squash-Califorrnia-5 <https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KnyoFU20hOo/T3kjWVZnFzI/AAAAAAAAAmg/mRVs866xuLg/s1600/Cucurbita-pepo-Pumpkin-California-1.jpg> Cucurbita-maxima-Cinderella+pumpkin-California-1 <https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-saZXzmjCxZg/T3kjqPL_ROI/AAAAAAAAAms/GM0ZzoEHSLY/s1600/Cucurbita-pepo-Zucchini-California-1.jpg> Cucurbita-pepo-Zucchini-California-1 -- 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/
