PlantFiles: Winter Squash
Cucurbita maxima subsp. andreana

Cucurbita maxima subsp. andreana includes only the wild forms, and is considered to be the ancestor of the cultivated forms of Cucurbita maxima.

This subspecies is endemic to the temperate areas of Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia and possibly Paraguay.

Hybridization between wild and cultivated types has contributed to increase the genetic variability of the subspecies andreana, whose fruits can be pear-shaped, oblong or rounded.

Young seedlings have been planted in the garden, early summer (in Poland). This summer was dry and hot. The plants were not large in size, but grow well. Flowers in late summer. Only male flowers. Plants are very resistant to cold. In the autumn the plants lived for a long time, when all other Cucurbitaceae died (in the Cucurbita pepo and C. maxima). Plants are not produced female flowers and fruit this year.