How do you recognise Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata)?

Leaf

Liliane Roubaudi, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Butternut squash

Cucurbita moschata Duchesne

Also known as: Butternut pumpkin

Family: Cucurbitaceae

Trailing stems of several metres

Grown in open fields, rich soils

Flowering: June – September

Full sun

Not hardy, frost-sensitive, grown as an annual

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

The Butternut variety, the most widely grown of this species, owes its pear shape and smooth skin to recent varietal selection — its name comes from 'butter-nut', referring to its smooth, buttery flesh. Butternut squash has a hard, angular stalk that flares widely into a star shape where it joins the fruit; the courgette has an equally hard and angular stalk, but it stays thin and does not flare where it joins the fruit.

🍃 Leaves

Large, rounded with 5 faint lobes, slightly downy

🌸 Flowers

Large, orange-yellow, trumpet-shaped; monoecious plant

🍎 Fruits

Elongated pear-shaped fruit, beige-orange skin, dense, sweet orange flesh with a musky flavour

🪵 Bark

Angular, hairy trailing stem

🗺️ Distribution

Native to Central America; grown throughout France, notably the Butternut variety

🐝 Value for pollinators

Large flowers very rich in honey, indispensable to bees for fruit formation

✂️ Horticultural uses

Vegetable garden crop grown for its sweet-fleshed fruit, keeps very well all winter

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Fruit edible; no known toxicity

⚠️ Look-alike species

Butternut squash

Cucurbita moschata

Courgette

Cucurbita pepo

Butternut squash has a hard, angular stalk that flares widely into a star shape where it joins the fruit; the courgette has an equally hard and angular stalk, but it stays thin and does not flare where it joins the fruit.

Butternut squash

Cucurbita moschata

Giant pumpkin

Cucurbita maxima

Butternut squash has a hard, angular stalk that flares markedly into a star shape at the junction with the fruit; the giant pumpkin has a soft, spongy, cylindrical stalk, without angles and without clear flaring.

🌿 Other Cucurbitaceae to discover

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.