Cucurbita maxima Duchesne (1786: 7)

Umoh, Omodot Timothy & Bassey, Margaret Emmanuel, 2021, Morphology and distribution of species of the family Cucurbitaceae in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, Phytotaxa 508 (2), pp. 107-128 : 113

4. Cucurbita maxima Duchesne (1786: 7) ( Fig. 6 )

Synonyms:— Pepo maximus Petermann (1838: 562) .

Local Name: —Ndise (Annang and Ibibio).

Common Name: —Pumpkin.

Habitat: —Cultivated farmland. It can grow and proliferate well in the midst of other cucurbits.

Description:— Herb, climbing and trailing. Stem herbaceous, climbing, angular, villous, 0.4–0.7 cm diam.; tendrils 2-fid, very hairy. Leaves simple, alternately arranged, petiolate, palmately lobed with 3 joined lobes, broadly acute, serrulate, villous, bright green; petiole cylindrical, herbaceous, green, ± 6–8 cm long. Inflorescence solitary or axillary, pedunculate; peduncle ± 4–5 cm long. Flowers pentamerous, corolla with fused petals forming tube 3–4 cm long, smooth, embedding the androecium. Fruit pepos, round or circular, hairy, green when fresh, brownish when dry, many seeded. Seed flat, chalk-like, 0.7–0.9 × 0.4–0.5 cm.

Location in Akwa Ibom:— Essien Udim, Oruk Anam, Obot Akara, Ikot Ekpene, Ibiono, Uyo, Ibesikpo Asutan, and Mkpat Enin.

Abundance:— This species existed in 52% of the sampling points and was rare in these sampling points.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Cucurbita maxima. A. Plant in habitat with wilted flower and young fruit. B. Morphological features showing (A) Leaf. (B) Flower. (C) Tendrils. (D) Fruit. (E) Seed.