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Cultivar Variety

Jack O'Lantern

Open-Pollinated · Heirloom

PumpkinCucurbita pepo

Jack O'Lantern is a Cucurbita pepo pumpkin cultivar long treated as the classic Halloween carving pumpkin, grown for its round orange fruit sized and shaped for jack-o'-lanterns.

Variety details

Distinguishing Traits

Jack O'Lantern produces orange-skinned, spherical pumpkins commonly grown for Halloween decorations. Individual fruits measure roughly 10 inches from stem to base and about 8 inches across, encased in a hard rind, with coarse-textured flesh that is sweet and thick. The variety is also noted for producing pumpkins of very uniform size and shape.

Uses

This cultivar is regarded as the standard Halloween carving pumpkin, valued for offering the ideal size and shape for a jack-o'-lantern. It ripens late in the season, and though its flavour has been described as mediocre, the flesh can still be cooked into soups, pies, and canned preserves.

Performance

Fruits typically weigh around 7 pounds and mature in about 110 days. It is grown as an heirloom, with seed lines kept and reselected for at least 75 years to give gardeners dependable harvests.

Sources

4 sources

Botanical Lineage

Taxonomic Rank
Biological Classification (Taxonomic Ranks)
Other Pumpkin Varieties (0)

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General identification, edible-use, and cultivation information only — not medical or safety advice. It may be incomplete or wrong; do not eat or use a plant medicinally, or make growing decisions, based only on this page.