Abstract
For the study of evolution the genus Cucurbita offers several unique advantages: (a) Cucurbita is a comparatively small closed system composed of about two dozen species concentrated in a relatively small land mass. Because of their conspicuous vines and fruits, it is unlikely that more than one-half dozen species are yet to be discovered, although a few new species might be expected from Baja California, the west coast of Mexico opposite the peninsula of Baja California, and in southern Mexico and Central America. These are areas that have not yet been thoroughly explored by botanists. (b) All species have 20 pairs of chromosomes. For this reason species differentiation must be largely genic or cytoplasmic, rather than dependent upon gross chromosomal rearrangements. (c) There are both wild and cultivated species in the genus. This situation presents an opportunity to compare the evolution of closely related species under cultivation contrasted with the evolution of species in nature. (d) From archaeological remains it is possible to trace man's association with these plants backward in time for a maximum of 10,000 years.
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