Earlier, I mentioned cross-pollination of pumpkins and winter squash. One thing I did not mention is that not all curcubits can cross-pollinate. In order for one curcubit, which includes squash, cucumbers and melons, as well as pumpkins, to pollinate another, they must be of the same species.
Pumpkins are of the Curcubita pepo, which also includes zucchini, cocozelle, acorn squash, crookneck squash and others. You can tell a C. pepo by its unique characteristics, which include:
- Uniformly colored tan seeds
- Lobed leaves with prickly hairs on the surface of the stems and leaves,
- Hard, roughly angled flower stocks (peduncles), and
- Male flowers with short, thick and conical stamens (androecia).
