A New Species of Cucurbita from Ecuador

Resumen

A new species of Cucurbita from South America is described.This species, Cucurbita ecuadorensis, is the first wild species of Cucurbita described from northwestern South America.Cucurbita ecuadorensis has been excavated from pre-ceramic, pre-maize levels in Coastal Peru.It appears to be more closely related to the South American C. maxima and C. andreana than to other species in the genus.Recent interest in the solitary bees of the genera Peponapis Robertson and Xenoglossa Smith stimulated an intensive search for species of Cucurbita and the bees associated with each species (Hurd & Linsley, 1964, 1966, 1967).On a collecting trip for solitary bees, Dr. and Mrs. A. E. Michelbacher were in Ecuador from January 27 to February 16, 1965.They made three collections of a large, wild gourd, Through the courtesy of the Michelbachers, seeds from these collections were grown in experimental gardens and greenhouses at Tucson, Arizona, and La Jolla, California.These collections belong to an undescribed species of Cucurbita.