The domestication of<Emphasis Type="Italic">cucurbita</Emphasis> (Cucurbitaceae)

The genusCucurbita consists of about thirteen species or species groups. “Squashes” have been domesticated independently from five of these thirteen taxa. The wild ancestor for one domesticated squash was identified in the 1930’s, ancestors for two others were determined in the 1980’s, but the wild ancestors of the other two domesticates remain unknown.