Tag: Plants

The name ‘Pumpkin’ is derived from the Greek term called ‘pepon’ which means ‘large melon’. Pumpkin is a winter squash, which means it grows in summer every year. Pumpkins are found all over the world and people cultivate them for both money-making as well as farming purposes. Pumpkin is one of the most famous crops of USA. So let’s discover more about this plant in pumpkin facts for kids.

A Quick Guide To Pumpkin Facts For Kids

Type: Plant

Hometown: North America

Weight: 6 – 18 pounds

Largest producers in the World: India, United States, China, Mexico, Canada

Largest producers in USA: Indiana, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio

Annual US production: 1.5 billion pounds

Basic Pumpkin Facts For Kids

Name

1. There is no specific meaning of the word ‘Pumpkin’ in Botany.
2. The earliest seeds of pumpkins were found in Mexico. These seeds date back to 7000 BC to 5500 BC.
3. In French, pumpkin is called as pompon.
4. In British, it is called pumpion.
5. The US immigrants finally called it Pumpkin.

Physical and Chemical Properties

1. Normally the weight of pumpkins varies from 6 to 18 pounds. The species that fall under this category of weight is C. pepo. However, the weights of biggest ones may reach to 75 pounds like the species named C. maxima.
2. There are very small orange-colored pigments inside a pumpkin which is why it appears orange.
3. Some of the key nutrients inside this plant are Lutein, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene.
4. Pumpkin is a plant. The plant seeds and the pulp inside it are covered with fat layer over it.

Color

1. Pumpkin has a dark yellow or more like an orange color.
2. During the year 2005, white-colored pumpkins became very famous in USA.
3. There are some pumpkins that have a dark green color.

USA

1. Pumpkins came from North America.
2. The name of a normal variety of this plant in the US is Connecticut Field.
3. The US produces 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins every year.
4. The five top US states that produce maximum pumpkins are Indiana, California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
5. In USA, the pumpkins are normally cultivated in the beginning of July.
6. The five largest producers of pumpkins around the world are India, United States, China, Mexico and Canada.

Cuisine

1. One of the most famous methods of cooking this plant is by a making a sweet dessert called pumpkin pie.
2. Pumpkin is a famous staple food in Canada and USA. It is especially prepared on occasions of Thanksgiving and Halloween.
3. Pumpkin is used as a sweet dessert in the Middle East. The sweet dish of pumpkin in this region is called ‘halawa yaqtin’.
4. In India, sugar and butter are mixed in pumpkin and make a sweet delicacy called ‘kadu ka halwa’.

Seeds

1. The seeds of pumpkin are known as pepitas.
2. One of the famous delicacies of Halloween is roasted seeds of pumpkin.
3. Pumpkin seed oil is produced from the cooked seeds of pumpkin and it is widely used in some parts of Europe for cooking food.

More Pumpkin Facts For Kids

1. Canned pumpkins can also be a good food for your dogs or cats because it has a high percentage of fiber in it, which helps in digesting food.
2. The leaves of pumpkin are very famous as a vegetable in most parts of Kenya. These are known as seveve.
3. Antarctica is the only continent in the world that has no pumpkins.
4. The growth of pumpkins is reduced when the temperature is too cold or when the water is not sufficient.
5. In the fertilization process of pumpkins, honeybees are one of those bees that are very important in starting this process.

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Plants are living organisms and play a major role in shaping the environment of our planet. They have enormous purposes and benefits for humanity. So let’s understand few things about these plants in plant facts for kids.

Plant Facts For Kids – Amazing and Astonishing

• The fastest growing organism in the whole world is called Lady in the Veil. It’s actually an African mushroom and it reaches at about eight inches within just twenty minutes.
• The total area covered by the rainforests is almost 2% of our planet but what’s surprising is that 50 percent of different species of animals and plants are located in this region.
• There are few trees that remain in touch with each other and so when an insect (that eats wood) goes after any tree, he gives off special kind of chemicals that act as a signal to the rest of the trees. In this way, all the trees become watchful from the potential threat of any bug because the chemical is extremely deadly and it puts off these predators.

• You know some trees are quite smart. A tree named Quiver (South Africa) stores water inside it by dropping its branches.
• In Bolivia, a very unusual kind of plant blossoms in about 100 to 150 years.
• Do you know in Arizona desert, how long does it take for a slow-moving Cactus to grow one inch? Well, it takes 10 years before it reaches one inch.
• Have you ever got a whiff of a decomposed dead body? Yuk! It stinks, definitely! But there is a flower too that smells just like that. Its name is Stinking lily or another name is corpse flower. That’s why it is the most foul-smelling flower throughout the whole world.

More Plant Facts For Kids

• In the Asian rainforests, there is a plant that eats birds and rats as well. They emit a unique liquid which exerts a pull on the animals and birds and a special basket of chemicals thaw these animals out.
• There are few kinds of bamboo that develops almost 35 inches in just about 24 hours.
• A redwood tree has a special external covering over its wood (called bark) that does not flame and when a fire erupts in the jungle, the interior is blazed while the outer part is saved.
• There is another plant from the family of carnivorous. The name of this plant is Venus flytrap and it gobbles flies. However, the plant requires 30 minutes to capture it and then after killing the fly, it takes that flower 10 days for digesting it.
• In the Amazon, there is a giant water lily plant the pads of which are so solid that even a kid can take a seat over them.
• You know few pine trees have so stretched roots that they are even spread out at about 30 miles?
• There are few plants that fancy listening music and scientists have found that their growth rate has significantly increased if you play music around them.
• Few of the plants that grow on deserts take water from beneath the earth thanks to their stretched out roots.
• The size of the tiniest tree in the world is about two inches. The name of the tree is Dwarf Willow and it is found in Greenland.

I hope you’d have enjoyed these plant facts for kids and if you know any other interesting facts about green plants, you’re more than welcome to contribute. We’ll be happy to see your response through your comments. So don’t forget to comment even if you don’t like it. Thank you for your time and effort.