Common name: Ironbark Pumpkin
Cucurbita maxima Duchesne APNI*
Description: Herb, usually with stems to several metres long, scabrous.
Tendrils 2–4-branched.
Leaves with lamina mostly 20–30 c. across, palmately 5-lobed, toothed, scabrous; petiole 10–25 cm long. Male flowers on peduncles 10–15 cm long. Female flowers on peduncles c. 3 cm long. Corolla c. 8 cm long, yellow.
Fruit usually depressed-globose, 10–40 cm diam., smooth, ribbed; seeds numerous, flattened, smooth, c. 10 mm long.
Flowering: spring to summer.
Distribution and occurrence: Widely cultivated for its edible fruit. Often naturalized near habitations, rubbish dumps or along roadways. Native of Amer.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *CC, *ST, *SWS, *SWP
Text by G. J. Harden Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 1 (1990)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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