Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Cucurbita maxima
Common name
Ironbark Pumpkin, Pumpkin
Family
Cucurbitaceae
Where found
Garden escape. Rubbish dumps, roadsides, and near habitations. North from the Sydney area. Canberra.
Notes
Introduced annual herb, trailing or climbing, usually with stems to several metres long. Stems rough. Tendrils 2–4-branched. Leaves alternating along the stems, mostly 200–300 mm in diameter, 5-lobed, margins toothed, surfaces rough. Male and female flowers on the same plant. Flowers yellow, 5-lobed, about 80 mm long. Male flowers on stalks 10–15 cm long. Female flowers on stalks about 3 cm long. Flowering: spring to summer. Fruit green or yellow to orange, sometimes white, usually flattened globular, 10–40 cm diameter. Edible.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cucurbita~maxima (accessed 7 January, 2021)
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