ETHNOBOTANY OF CULTIVATED PUMPKINS (Cucurbita spp.) IN OAXACA’S CENTRAL VALLEYS, MÉXICO

Abstract

Pumpkins (Cucurbita spp.) (Cucurbitaceae) are plants that have been part of man’s diet in America for more than 10 000 years; they are part of the basic food production system known as milpa. These plants, together with many other useful plant species, have found a very efficient medium for distribution and commercialization in the system of markets in Oaxaca’s Central Valleys, México. Four species domesticated in Mesoamerica can be found in Oaxaca’s Central Valley markets, from which tender and mature fruits are sold, as well as toasted and raw seeds, vines to be used as vegetable and male flowers. They are cultivated in association with other plants as part of the milpa or as a single crop, rainfed or with irrigation; the latter is the case for the production of zucchini from improved varieties and calabaza huicha, a landrace that competes favorably with the improved varieties.