Are pumpkins vegetables?
A pumpkin is not a vegetable; it’s a fruit! In fact, it’s a berry. Pumpkins belong to the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes cucumbers, melons, squash, and gourds. Within this family is the genus Cucurbita which includes gourds, winter and summer squash, and all varieties of pumpkin. There are four species that are considered “pumpkins,” but only one is the species most people would recognize as the traditional pumpkin used for carving jack-o-lanterns and baking pies.
