What is the difference between a gourd and a pumpkin?
• Gourds are used as musical instruments while pumpkins are used as a jack-o-lantern on Halloween. • Gourds can sometimes be ornamental and typically used as a vessel in homes whereas the pumpkins are edible and can be eaten when roasted or baked.
What is the difference between gourd and pumpkin?
What’s the Difference Between Gourds, Squash and Pumpkins?
- Gourds. This ornamental squash comes in different shapes, sizes and colors. You’ve got your hardshell, bottle, turban and dipping (the most common) type.
- Squash. Squash are perfect for roasting, souping, dicing, pureeing and all-around eating. ...
- Pumpkin. Treat the super mini’s like gourds, and don’t waste your time trying to extract nutrition from them.
Is a pumpkin a fruit or vegetable and why?
Pumpkin is technically a fruit because its seeds are inside the fruit. A grain’s seeds are outside. It is considered also a vegetable since it is served that way like tomatoes and eggplants are technically fruits, but eaten usually as vegetables.
What category is a pumpkin in the gourd family?
The cucurbitaceae family is the latin term for gourds, squash and pumpkins, which most of us lump into one big category of bumpy, vine-y, hard to hack into, often ugly things that grow in the autumn. What’s the diff between gourds, squash and pumpkins? Read on.
What is a white pumpkin?
White pumpkins are Cucurbita winter squash varieties with naturally white-color rinds. Some white pumpkin cultivars are mini-sized, while others can make giant Jack-O-Lanterns!
Are pumpkin and gourd the same?
As for gourds, that term includes plants in both the genera Cucurbita (soft-skinned gourds) and Lagenaria (hard-skinned gourds), so a pumpkin is also technically a gourd. If you're not confused enough already, here's one more fun fact: Pumpkins are both squash and gourds, and also… fruit.
Is white pumpkin same as ash gourd?
Ash gourd, also known as Benincasa hispida, winter melon, wax gourd, white pumpkin, and Chinese watermelon, is a fruit native to parts of Southern Asia (1). It grows on a vine and matures into a round or oblong melon that's approximately the same size and color as a watermelon.
Is bottle gourd and white pumpkin same?
These two have almost the same properties and have a maturity period of about 100 to 129 days. As gourds and pumpkins belong to the same family, they do not differ much. A gourd is mainly used as a vessel or a container at home. Gourds are also used as musical instruments such as drums and stringed instruments.
What is considered a gourd?
Gourd is occasionally used to describe crop plants in the family Cucurbitaceae, like pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, luffa, and melons. More specifically, gourd refers to the fruits of plants in the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita, or also to their hollow, dried-out shell.
Can you eat gourds pumpkins?
Gourds like field pumpkin and calabash have very hard shells, but their edible fillings can be eaten in savory recipes similar to squash. The sweet flavor of pumpkin makes it a popular choice for baked goods like pumpkin pie and other desserts.
Is ash gourd different from pumpkin?
No. Pumpkin is very different from ash gourd. Ash gourd is also called 'winter melon', 'winter gourd' in English. It is called 'Saphed Petha' in Hindi.
What is Indian name for ash gourd?
PethaAsh gourd, scientifically termed Benincasa hispida, goes by several vernacular names such as “Petha” in Hindi, “Boodida Gummadi” in Telugu, “Neer Pooshnikkai” in Tamil and “Kumbalam” in Malayalam.
How do you eat a white pumpkin?
Poosanikai juice recipe White pumpkin (known as poosanikai in Tamil) juice with mint and coriander flavour, is not only a summer coolant but also good tasting.
What is bottle gourd called in USA?
Calabash (/ˈkæləbæʃ/; Lagenaria siceraria), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean and Tasmania bean, is a vine grown for its fruit.
What is English name of bottle gourd?
bottle gourd, (Lagenaria siceraria), also called white-flowered gourd or calabash gourd, running or climbing vine of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to tropical Africa but cultivated in warm climates around the world for its ornamental and useful hard-shelled fruits.
Is it a squash or a gourd?
Most squash is cultivated for consumption, while most gourds are grown for purely decorative purposes. So really, when people define something as a gourd, they basically mean "inedible squash." But again, these definitions are more circumstantial than anything else.
Characteristics of Gourds and Pumpkins
Pumpkins and gourds all belong to the enormous Cucurbitaceae family, which encompasses nearly 1,000 species. Some pumpkin varieties of the Cucurbita genus are also referred to as squashes or gourds, depending on their genetic makeup and plant characteristics.
Characteristics of Pumpkin Gourds
While trained botanists study the appearance and characteristics of a pumpkin's fruit and related parts, its function and edibility will usually help the layperson to determine if a pumpkin is a gourd or not.
How to Use Pumpkins and Gourds
Traditionally, some gourds, with their bitter flesh, have been used for medicine and as bait for catching fish. More commonly, though, ornamental gourds serve as attractive autumn decorations, filling harvest baskets and complementing table centerpieces. The pumpkin gourd generally finds its niche in this category of gourds.
What Are White Pumpkins?
While classic orange pumpkins are still crowd-pleasers, more and more farms and patches around the country are beginning to grow pale white pumpkins to meet the growing demand for them.
How to Use White Pumpkins
Most people purchase white pumpkins for ornamental displays. But you can use them for everything from baking to roasting in the kitchen. Certain varieties make for excellent waffles, bread, puddings and tarts. Others are delicious cubed and roasted and added to salads or pastas.
White Pumpkin Varieties
Want to get a few white pumpkins of your own for decorations or cooking this fall? Here are some varieties to consider:
