86 – II.2. SQUASHES, PUMPKINS, ZUCCHINIS, GOURDS (CURCURBITA SPECIES)
naturally with wild relatives, and the appropriate taxonomic assignments for these wild
relatives vis-à-vis the cultivated species is still in flux as new information becomes
available. In some instances the wild relative has been classified as a distinct species,
in others it has been classified as a subspecies of the cultivated species. Annex 2.A1
provides a listing of the various names associated with 13 of the species. The taxonomic
relationships of two Cucurbita species, C. argyrosperma and C. pepo, have been studied
more intensively, and these studies have provided a much clearer perspective of the
relationships within these cultivated species, and between the cultivated species and their
wild relatives. The other three domesticated species have been less studied in terms of
relationships within the species and between the cultivated species and their wild
relatives.
Morphological, ecogeographical, archaeological and biosystematic evidence, such as
those derived from studies on hybridisation and molecular biology (e.g. Decker, 1988,
1986; Andres, 1990, 1987a, 1987b, 1987c; Decker-Walters et al., 2002, 1993; Decker and
Wilson, 1987; Kirkpatrick and Wilson, 1988; Wilson, 1990, 1989; Merrick, 1990;
Rodríguez and Lira, 1992; Wilson, Doebley and Duvall, 1992; Wilson, Lira and
Rodríguez, 1994; Sanjur et al., 2002), as well as field observations, contribute to the
development of the currently recognised limits and relationships of the five cultivated
species. Table 2.1 and Annex 2.A1 are syntheses of information from various sources
describing the most commonly referred to Cucurbita taxa, both wild and domesticated.
Table 2.1. List of taxa in the genus Cucurbita and their natural distributions
Cucurbita group Taxa Natural distribution
Argyrosperma group C. argyrosperma Huber ssp. argyrosperma Southwestern United States, Mexico, Mesoamerica
C. argyrosperma ssp. sororia (L.H. Bailey)
Merrick & Bates
Mesoamerica (Pacific coast from Mexico to
Nicaragua)
Maxima group C. maxima Duchesne ex Lam. ssp. maxima South America (Argentina, Bolivia , Chile)
C. maxima ssp. andreana (Naudin) I.A. Filov South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Uruguay)
Pepo group C. pepo L. Northern Mexico, southern and central United States
C. pepo ssp. fraterna (L.H. Bailey) Andres Northeastern Mexico
C. pepo ssp. texana (Scheele) I.A. Filov Central, southcentral, southeastern United States
Okeechobeensis group C. okeechobeensis (J.K. Small) L.H. Bailey
ssp. okeechobeensis
Southern United States (Florida)
C. okeechobeensis ssp. martinezii
(L.H. Bailey) Walters & Decker-Walters
Mexico
Digitata group C. digitata A. Gray * Mexico, United States
C. cordata S. Watson * Mexico
C. palmata S. Watson * Mexico, United States
Foetidissima group C. foetidissima H.B.K. * Mexico, United States
C. pedatifolia L.H. Bailey * Central Mexico
C. scabridifolia L.H. Bailey * Northeastern Mexico
C. radicans Naudin * Mexico
Species with no defined
group
C. ecuadorensis Cutler & Whitaker Ecuador (Pacific coast)
C. lundelliana L.H. Bailey Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua
C. ficifolia Bouché Mexico to Argentina and Chile
C. moschata (Duchesne ex Lam.)
Duchesne ex Poiret
Mesoamerica and South America
Note: Names in bold correspond to domesticated taxa; those with an asterisk (*) correspond to perennial
species. Names used preferentially in this table and in the text are based on the nomenclature used by Lira,
Andres and Nee (1995); Lira Saade, Eguiarte Fruns and Montes Hernández(2009); and Gong et al. (2012).
