Squashes are a kind of vegetable-like fruit. They originally came from the New World. Gourds are in the same family as squashes. Pumpkins and courgette are types of squashes.
Word origin
The English word "squash" comes from askutasquash (which means "a green thing eaten raw"). This is a word from the Narragansett language, which was documented by Roger Williams in his 1643 publication A Key Into the Language of America. There are similar words for squash in related languages of the Algonquian family such as Massachusett.
Squash and art
The squash has been an important crop in the Andes mountains since the pre-Columbian Era. The Moche culture from Northern Peru made ceramics from earth, water, and fire. This pottery was used to represent important themes. Squash are a popular shape in Moche ceramics.
Images
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Squashes grow hanging from a network of stalks
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Longitudinal section of female flower of squash (courgette), showing ovary, ovules, pistil, and petals
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Various squashes such as Turban, Sweet Dumpling, Carnival, Gold Acorn, Delicata, Buttercup and Golden Nugget.
Images
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C. pepo pumpkins – the two bright orange ones in center right, and squashes C. maxima, all others
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The leaves of Cucurbita moschata often have white spots near the veins.
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A variety of fruits displayed at the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid in 2016
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An assortment of fruits of C. maxima and C. pepo
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Cucurbita female flower with pollinating squash bees
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Male flower, part of the perianth and one filament removed
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Kabocha seedling seven days after being sown
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Fruit of the 'Tromboncino' cultivar of the Crookneck (C. moschata) Group are eaten either when very young, or as mature winter squash.
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Winter squash, both a shrubby and creeping plant, obovoid or conical shape, pointed at the apex and with longitudinal grooves, thus resembling a spinning top, ex: [[Acorn squash
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Summer squash, long round slender fruit that is slightly bulbous at the apex, similar to fastigata, ex: [[Cocozelle von tripolis
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Summer squash, shrubby plant, with yellow, golden, or white fruit which is long and curved at the end and generally has a verrucose (wart-covered) rind, ex: [[Crookneck squash
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Winter squash, creeping plant, round, oblate, or oval shape and round or flat on the ends, ex: Pumpkin; includes C. pepo subsp. pepo var. styriaca, used for Styrian [[pumpkin seed oil
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Summer squash, prefers half-shrubby habitat, flattened or slightly discoidal shape, with undulations or equatorial edges, ex: [[Pattypan squash
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Summer squash, shrubby plant, with yellow or golden fruit and verrucose rind, similar to var. torticollia but a stem end that narrows, ex: [[Straightneck squash
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Summer squash, presently the most common group of cultivars, origin is recent (19th century), semi-shrubby, cylindrical fruit with a mostly consistent diameter, similar to fastigata, ex: [[Zucchini
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Cucurbita pepo subsp. texana, from Les Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne, 1503–1508, f. 161, earliest depiction of cucurbits in Europe
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Moche squash ceramic. 300 A.D. Larco Museum
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Towering pyramid of squashes in the Waterlily House, Kew Gardens, 2013