The feral buffalo gourd, Cucurbita foetidissima

Abstract

The feral species, Cucurbita foetidissima, the perennial Buffalo gourd, has the potential of becoming a cultivated food crop, producing seeds rich in edible oil and protein. It also produces an extensive storage root system rich in starch. It has evolved in the arid regions of North America and is adapted to growing on arid to semiarid lands, which constitute much of the world's land mass, lands now marginal for crop production. © 1978 The New York Botanical Garden.