Pumpkin

A pumpkin is a cultivar of a squash plant, most commonly of Cucurbita pepo, that is round with smooth, slightly ribbed skin, and most often deep yellow to orange in coloration. The thick shell contains the seeds and pulp. Some exceptionally large cultivars of squash with similar appearance have also been derived from Cucurbita maxima. Specific cultivars of winter squash derived from other species, including C. argyrosperma and C. moschata, are also sometimes called "pumpkin". Native to North America (northeastern Mexico and southern United States), pumpkins are one of the oldest domesticated plants, having been used as early as 7,500 to 5,000 BC.Pumpkins are widely grown for commercial use and are used both for food and recreation. Pumpkin pie, for instance, is a traditional part of Thanksgiving meals in Canada and the United States, and pumpkins are frequently carved as jack-o"-lanterns for decoration around Halloween, although commercially canned pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie fillings are usually made from different kinds of winter squash than the ones used for jack-o"-lanterns. The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon (πέπων), which is Greek for "large melon", something round and large. The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion and to the later American colonists became known as pumpkin. The term pumpkin has no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning, and is used interchangeably with "squash" and "winter squash". In North America and the United Kingdom, pumpkin traditionally refers to only certain round orange varieties of winter squash, predominantly derived from Cucurbita pepo, while in Australian English, pumpkin can refer to winter squash of any appearance.

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