Southern Italy: birthplace of the Cocozelle squash, Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo, Cocozelle Group

Abstract Cocozelle squash are the most elongate fruits of Cucurbita pepo . Their length-to-broadest width ratio ranges from 3.5 to 8.0, and at maturity they can attain a length of 75 cm. Cocozelle squash bulge toward the stylar end and are obviously narrower at the mid-portion or peduncle end. Cocozelle squash are harvested when very young, usually just 0–3 days past anthesis. The ovaries and the corollas of the pistillate flowers of many Cocozelle cultivars are huge and the pistillate flowers are frequently offered for sale in Italian markets. Our goal is to review the history and evolution under cultivation of the Cocozelle squash. The word cocozelle is derived from a southern Italian dialect, being a diminutive of the word cocozze , the bottle gourd. The earliest-known images of Cocozelle squash date to the late sixteenth century. The Swiss botanist Johann Bauhin described a Cocozelle squash in the seventeenth century and the French plant scientist Antoine Nicolas Duchesne illustrated and described Cocozelle squash in the late eighteenth century. The Cocozelle ‘San Pasquale’ was mentioned by the Italian horticultural scientist Filippo Re in 1811. The culinary use of long-fruited summer squash is documented in Italian cookbooks of the seventeenth century. There are very many cultigens of Cocozelle squash, including landraces and old, open-pollinated cultivars mostly from Italy but also from France, Spain, Turkey, and North Macedonia. In recent decades, many hybrid Cocozelles have been developed in Italy and elsewhere. Although the word cocozelle is not currently in fashion in the seed industry, in fact the seeds of many Cocozelle hybrids are offered for sale around the world, by local companies as well as multinationals.