Compared to other domesticated species in its genus, investigators have noted that samples of C. ficifolia from throughout its range are relatively similar to one other in morphology and genetic composition.

It is also cultivated in regions of the world including India, Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Angola.

Provided proper conditions including a frost-free climate, it can grow for an indefinite amount of time in this manner.

[3] The fruit is oblong with a diameter of eight inches or 20 centimeters, weighs eleven to 13 pounds (5 to 6 kilograms), and can produce up to 500 seeds.

Non-morphological indications of genetic diversity within the species include its cultivation across a wide geographic range, where altitude is one of the only conditions that is consistent.

Another reflection of genetic diversity is that C. ficifolia is grown in a variety of agricultural systems ranging from high competition such as in heavy rain maize fields, to less competitive and more intensive cultivation such as dry season maize fields, vegetable gardens, and commercial agricultural plots.

[18] Archeological records suggest that C. ficifolia was once the most widespread variety of Cucurbita in the Americas, cultivated from northern Chile and Argentina northwest to Mexico.

[19] C. ficifolia is believed to have spread first from South America to the Malabar Coast of India in the 16th and 17th centuries before later reaching Europe.

Some of its common names including Asian pumpkin, Malabar gourd, Siam squash, and Thai marrow reflect this route of dispersal to Europe.

[citation needed] In Spain this squash is used to make a jam known as "cabello de ángel" (angel's hair), "cabell d'àngel" in Catalan, that is used to fill pies, sweets and confectionery.

[citation needed] The most nutritional part of Cucurbita ficifolia is its fat- and protein-rich seeds.Cilacayote seeds are used in Mexico to make palanquetas, a sweet similar to peanut brittle.