Buttercup Burgess Pumpkin seeds
Buttercup Burgess Pumpkin seeds
Butter Burgess Pumpkin belongs to family Cucurbitaceae, genus Cucurbita and Species C. maxima. The scientific name, therefore, is Cucurbita maxima. The subspecies are C. maxima subsp. Andreana and C. maxima subsp. Maxima. The synonyms are Cucumis rapallito carrere, Cucumis zapallito Carriere, Cucurbita farina Mozz. Ex Naudin, Cucurbita maxima var. trioba Millan,
It originated from South America where it grew in the wild. The plant is grown directly into the soil at a depth of 20mm during spring or after frost. It takes 95 days to mature. The fruit is harvested when the vine has dried. It requires well-drained moist soils in a place where there is full sun. It can tolerate poor conditions. It takes 110 days to mature from the time of transplanting. The plant can be grown in the temperate zones and tropics where there is a warm growing season of not less than 150 days. It grows well in places with temperatures of between 20 to 30 degrees Celsius though it may tolerate temperatures of 9 to 38 degrees Celsius. It does not tolerate very low temperatures.
It has dark green skin and a grey button on the lower end. It has deep orange flesh. The pumpkin has a sweet flavour. The fruit is about 1 to 2 kg and the plant is large, the plant is monoecious and bears large bright yellow to orange flowers that have a diameter of 10 to 16 cm. It has vines, branches and tendrils. Produces on flower per node where male flowers are produced by the first nodes. They have a stem that grows to 5m long and tends to spread in the ground, but when they can support themselves by themselves using the tendrils to climb the vegetation.
C. maxima seeds are used in treating parasites in animals. It can be used in making cakes and bread by drying the flesh and grinding into powder and using it together with other cereals. The seeds can be eaten raw or cooked. The seeds are rich in oil and can be ground to powder and be used in making bread. The oil can be extracted from the seed to produce quality vegetable oil. Young flowers can also be eaten raw or cooked and the young stems are cooked to make a tasty dish. The pumpkin seed oils have been used in North America to treat skin diseases such as ulcers and sores. A paste is made from the fruit stalks and used to heal boils and earache.
