For a few weeks each fall, we can't get enough of the gorgeous gourd

When the leaves change and the weather cools, we fall for the pumpkin.

The affair lasts just a season. By December, our hearts will have moved onto fruitcake, eggnog, gingerbread men.

But for a few allspice-tinged weeks, we are captivated by those orange orbs beckoning from their patches. We will intricately carve them so they can light our porches for trick-or-treaters. We will pile cute miniature versions into centerpieces on our Thanksgiving tables. We will gorge ourselves on all things pumpkin.

Between October and December, and rarely at any other time, our world abounds with pumpkin-flavored treats.

One is left to wonder why the pumpkin has assumed such status. Why is the pumpkin the star of the fall? Why not other fruits of the season -- the butternut squash, the acorn squash, the hubbard? And why is our devotion so fleeting? Yes, pumpkins ripen around this time, but how many of us have peeled and cubed a pumpkin fresh from the field? The canned version cures most of our pumpkin cravings, and that, like any other preserved product, is plentiful year-round.

DeeDee Stovel, author of "Pumpkin: A Super Food for All 12 Months of the Year," believes the pumpkin's fall harvest and brilliant hue account for its seasonal supremacy. "It is the ultimate fall color," she says.

Michael Krondl, cooking teacher, food historian and author of "The Great Little Pumpkin Cookbook," has another thought on the gourd's popularity: "Pumpkins are just so damn cute."

As with any fleeting romance, the object of our desire remains something of a mystery. How much do we really know about the pumpkin?

Pumpkin is a fruit, not a vegetable. (Surprising, isn't it?) There are three pumpkin species, explains Bill Shoemaker, a senior research specialist in food crops at the University of Illinois, the nation's top pumpkin-producing state. One is the jack-o'-lantern; another is the giant pumpkin; and the third is the one we eat. The ugly truth: The edible pumpkin's looks are not going to stir your pumpkin passions. It is oblong, tan like a butternut squash and grows to about 40 pounds, Shoemaker says. In other words, it is far from cute.

But our adoration may rebound with this fact: The pumpkin is a native to North America, originating in what is now the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. American Indians roasted pumpkins and used dried pumpkin strips to weave mats. Early European explorers took the pumpkin from our shores to theirs. Now, Stovel says, the pumpkin grows everywhere but Antarctica.

"It is part of every cuisine you can find," says Stovel, including German, Austrian, African, Mexican, Latin American and Afghani.

Another blow to our pumpkin preconceptions: Stewed pumpkin, not pumpkin pie, was probably served at the first Thanksgiving. Krondl says the first American pumpkin-pie recipe doesn't turn up until 1803 in Sussannah Carter's "The Frugal Housewife."

While we thought we knew our beloved so well, here is another truth: The first jack-o'-lanterns were not carved pumpkins. In Ireland, where the tradition started, people first used turnips and potatoes. The English used large beets. It wasn't until those immigrants came to the United States that they discovered that the pumpkin was a more suitable carving medium.

Why our pumpkin devotion is so ardent and yet so brief while our love of other produce persists throughout the seasons, we may never know. But if you feel inspired to express your love of the gourd throughout the year, we have good news. Pumpkins will store well in a cool place for up to six months.

(andrea.weigl(at)newsobserver.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)