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Cucurbita foetidissima
Also called Buffalo Gourd, Prairie Gourd, Wild Pumkin, Buffalogourd Pumpkin, Calabazilla, Coyote Melon, Foetid Gourd
Missouri gourd is a tuberous, drought-tolerant wild vine of the central and southwestern US and northern Mexico, grown for its large tap root and as a ground cover. It thrives in hot, dry, well-drained sandy soil and needs very little water.
Cucurbita foetidissima is a tuberous xerophytic plant found in the central and southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It has numerous common names, but is most commonly called the buffalo gourd in English. The type specimen was collected from Mexico by Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland sometime before 1817. In Latin, foetidissima means most unpleasant smell.
The buffalo gourd has evolved in the semiarid regions and is well-adapted to desert environments. It contains high amounts of protein and carbohydrates and yields abundant oil. The carbohydrates that are formed in the tap root have led to the idea of growing the plant for biofuel.
Cucurbita foetidissima is native to North America. It is found in the central and southwestern United States, in: Arizona, Arkansas, southern California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, southern Nebraska, southern Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and southern Utah. In Mexico, it can be found in Aguascalientes, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo; northern Jalisco, Mexico; Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas.
The buffalo gourd has the potential of being a crop adapted to arid to semiarid lands. It is also used as a durable groundcover for hiding and protecting banks from erosion.
Japanese Pie Pumpkin · Coyote Melon · Coyote Gourd · Cucurbita cylindrata · Fingerleaf gourd · Ecuadorian Squash · Figleaf gourd · Cucurbita galeottii · Bitter Pumpkin · Marten Gourd · Jarrahdale pumpkin · Winter squash
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cucurbita foetidissima by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
