Gourd variety
Pumpkin, fruit of certain varieties of squash—such as varieties of Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata, and C. maxima—in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), usually characterized by a hard orange rind with distinctive grooves. Pumpkins are commonly grown for human consumption and also for livestock feed. In Europe and South America, pumpkin is mainly served as a vegetable and used interchangeably with other winter squashes. In the United States and Canada, pumpkin pie is a traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas dessert. In some places, pumpkins are used as Halloween decorations known as jack-o’-lanterns, in which the interior of the pumpkin is cleaned out and a light is inserted to shine through a face carved through the wall of the fruit.