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Just remember this: gourds are for ornamentation, squash is for cooking, and pumpkin is for cooking or carving. I hope that helps a little! :) They are all under the umbrella of the enormous family of Cucurbitaceae .

Oh that is better.
I will still not know which one is which when I see a pile of different pumpkins :p

The ones that are pretty and small with little lumps on it are usually the ornamental. (rule of thumb?)

Okay :) I hardly see those here anyway... I think it is not so popular to decorate houses for Halloween, or celebrate it.