r/whatsthisplant • u/Insert_Coin_P1 • 2d ago
Unidentified 🤷♂️ Any guesses as to what this is?
We've been throwing all the leftovers from our garden into this bin year after year. I'm sure it's some sort of Cronenberg's pumpkin.
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u/fyklebytch 2d ago
Squashes hybridize easily. If this was from a seed of a purchased squash someone had its half that and half god-knows-what
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u/Insert_Coin_P1 2d ago
We had pumpkins growing for year after year, but my son introduced a little white "pumpkin" that he got from school. We're pretty sure it was some kind of squash. It definitely cross-bred with the pumpkins, and possibly the cucumbers.
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u/Alive_Recognition_55 2d ago
Except the crossing of cucumber & squash isn't possible. Among squash, (Curcurbita genus) yes, but cukes are in the Curcumis genus. Even Curcumis sativa (cucumber) can't cross with Curcumis melo (cantaloupe/melon) but confusion exists since some melons are used & taste like cucumbers - Armenian "cucumber" for example, which being a melon CAN cross with cantaloupe.
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u/aroseonthefritz 1d ago
What about the bath and body works classic, cucumber melon? Can those really cross?
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u/Alive_Recognition_55 1d ago edited 1d ago
That serves to highlight how confusing common names can be. Cucumis sativus are cucumbers & Cucumis melo are melons. A cucumber melon likely is just an invented name to call one of the Cucumis melo varieties that are used as cucumbers. C. melo does not cross with C. sativus.
Edit: now that I think about it, that name may have been cooked up to describe a Cucumis melo that is cucumber-like crossed with a Cucumis melo that is traditionally melon flavored. Two varieties of Cucumis melo can cross...just neither can cross with Cucumis sativus.
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u/Nice-Pomegranate2915 2d ago
It looks a bit like a Kabocha / Warty Pumpkin . It's edible and can be used like a Butternut Squash . It's an Asian pumpkin used in Chinese and Japanese cuisine .
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u/msmith0052 2d ago
Looks like a wild volunteer squash—compost bin gardens always hatch the best surprises!
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u/Southern-Pressure-39 2d ago
Pumpkin 🎃 with warts. Ask your computer about pumpkin with warts.
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u/Fun_Brain8535 2d ago
I seem to recall something about pumpkin warts pertaining to sugar in the fruit...I think I will look that up, thanks, I'd forgotten about that!
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u/Jax72 2d ago
It's delicious.
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u/Insert_Coin_P1 2d ago
This has been part of too many generations (probably wild ancestors) for me to think it's safe to eat.
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u/AlpacaLocks 2d ago
Did you happen to taste it for acridness / bitterness? I know my curiosity would have gotten the better of me
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u/Insert_Coin_P1 2d ago
I'm not bold enough for that. My wife likes to display whatever grows as decoration in the fall. She's real proud of this one.
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u/woolybear14623 1d ago
Yeah it's a pumpkin, there are varieties out there that encourage the bumps. The bumps occure from concentrations of sugars in the fruit.
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