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Puzzling over pumpkins

It’s not at all surprising that as Halloween approaches I’m often asked, “What is a pumpkin?” or more specifically, “What’s the difference between a pumpkin, a squash and a gourd?” or “Is a pumpkin a squash, a gourd or another type of vegetable?” After all, as a general rule, we carve pumpkins, eat squash and decorate with gourds.

Technically speaking, a pumpkin is not a vegetable. It’s a fruit, as are squash. Scientific classification makes this quite clear. A fruit is defined, botanically, as the mature ovaries of a plant. In other words, the part of the plant that develops from a flower and contains the seeds. By definition, some other fruits, which are often thought of as vegetables, are cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, string beans and olives. Grains, nuts and seeds are also, by scientific definition, fruits.

Vegetables, on the other hand, do not contain seeds. They are all the other parts of a plant; the roots (i.e. beets, carrots, onions, potatoes, turnips), leaves (i.e. lettuce, spinach, kale,) or stems (i.e. celery, broccoli, cauliflower).

From a culinary standpoint, vegetables are less sweet or more savory. They’re served as a main dish or as part of the main dish. Fruits are more sweet or tart and are usually eaten as snacks or served as a dessert. Both fruits and vegetables can be made into juice.

Nutritionally, fruits and vegetables are similar. They’re typically chock-full of vitamins, minerals and health-enhancing plant compounds such as antioxidants, while higher in fiber and lower in calories and fat than meats or other animal products.

The term pumpkin really has no botanical connotation and the name differs in meaning throughout the world. In the United States, any round, orange squash that can be used for carving jack-o-lanterns or making pies is likely to be called a pumpkin. While in Australia, the name pumpkin refers to all of what we generally refer to as winter squash. Most of the gardeners I speak with think of pumpkins as squash, because they’re edible, whereas most gourds are not. But from a true horticultural standpoint, the best identifying characteristic is the stem. Pumpkins have a star-shaped stem.

Nonetheless, pumpkins, squash and gourds are so genetically similar that it’s not always easy to differentiate between the three. All of them belong to the same genetic family, Cucurbitaceae, which contains more than 100 genera and more than 700 subgroups, or species, including all cucumbers and melons. All three belong to genus, Cucurbita, which also includes all types of summer squash. Species of pumpkin may be either Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita maxima, or Cucurbita moschata.

The C. pepo species of pumpkin are usually recognized as true pumpkins. Varieties within this group have yellow-orange flowers, fruits with bright orange skin and hard, woody, distinctly furrowed stems. This genus encompasses a large and diverse variety of cultivated vine (and a few bush) crops. Included are pumpkins, gourds, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, patty-pan squash and summer squash, including zucchini, straight-neck and crookneck selections.

The C. maxima species include varieties often listed as pumpkins but which would probably be more appropriately called pumpkin-like squash or, perhaps, squash-like pumpkins. These include the varieties chosen for growing giant or competition pumpkins (i.e. Atlantic Giant, Big Max). The skin of these varieties are typically more yellow than orange and the stems are soft and corky, without ridges or swelling where the stem meets the fruit. Plants in this species are sometimes referred to as soft-stemmed squash. Most winter squash varieties, many noted for excellent flavor – Hubbard, buttercup, turban squashes – are members of the maxima group.

The C. moschata genus includes the “cheese” pumpkin group (i.e. Long Island cheese), which bear resemblance to wheels of cheese), are very ribbed, and pale orange to tan in color. Cheese pumpkins are favored by many home gardeners growing pie pumpkins and are widely grown commercially, for processing. Many varieties are oblong. Cultivars of butternut squash, including those known as neck pumpkins, are members of this genus.

Some people will tell you that pumpkins are berries. They base their conclusion on the rather vague definition of a berry being a fruit derived from a single ovary with many seeds in fleshy pulp. What the definition is actually saying is that berries have seeds distributed throughout the flesh, rather than in a central pit area, like apples, pears, or grapes (which are not berries). The bottom line: pumpkins are not berries.

You can argue that tomatoes are berries, however, and many botanists would agree. But that’s another story.

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