C. pepo seems more closely related to C. fraterna, though disagreements exist about the exact nature of that connection, too.

[5][11][12] Before the arrival of Europeans, C. pepo, along with C. moschata, had been carried over all parts of North America where they could be grown.

[13] The ancient territory of C. pepo extended north into Texas and up the Greater Mississippi River Valley into Illinois and east to Florida, and possibly even to Maine.

[6] It is one of several plants cultivated in prehistoric North America as part of the Eastern Agricultural Complex.

[6] Many of these peoples, particularly in the west, still grow a diversity of hardy squashes and pumpkins not to be found in commercial markets.

[13] Still, neither C. pepo nor C. moschata had been carried into South America as had beans, which originated in the same general region.

[15] Recent biosystematic investigations indicate two distinct domestication events in two different areas: one in Mexico and one in the eastern United States, with C. pepo subsp.

[8] Based on genetic allele analysis, two distinct groups occur within domesticated C. pepo: pumpkin, calabaza, criolla, and marrow squash are in one; and ornamental gourds, crookneck, acorn, scallop, and a few others in the second one.

[5] It is considered to be the progenitor and nearest relative of the domesticated subspecies C. pepo subsp.

[27] Unlike most wild Cucurbita, some specimens of C. fraterna have been found without bitter fruit.

This subspecies is mesophytic and native to Texas, primarily the southeastern region where it can be found in or near sandy riverbeds.

[12] It is possibly a progenitor and close relative of the domesticated subspecies Cucurbita pepo subsp.

It was formally described as Tristemon texanus by George Heinrich Adolf Scheele in 1848 and transferred to the genus Cucurbita by Asa Gray in 1850.

[32] Fresh squash is cut into spiral strips, folded into hanks and hung up to dry for winter use.

The blossoms are cooked in grease[clarification needed] and used as a delicacy in combination with other foods.