Japanese name: セイヨウカボチャ（西洋南瓜） Scientific name:Cucurbita maxima
[Overview]
A climbing annual.
One of the edible pumpkins, it is a cultivated species said to have originated in Central and South America.
There are cultivar groups such as the Hubbard, Delicious, Turban and Mammoth groups.
The stems grow long.
The stems and leaves are rough.
The leaves are alternate with extremely shallow notches, and the leaf surface has no white spots.
There are male and female flowers.
The flowers are bell-shaped, 5-lobed, and yellow.
There are many cultivars; in Japan the kuri-kabocha (chestnut pumpkin) types within the Delicious group are especially widely grown, and their forms vary.
[History]
It was introduced to Japan from America in the early Meiji period.
