Can anyone identify this mystery squash?

Steve H of Keyport, Washington in the US emailed me an embarrassingly long time ago to ask if I could help him find out the variety of this squash. He writes:

It weighed in at 28.6 pounds. The plant wilted at the first frost so it must be a summer squash (?). It was planted late May and harvested the last week of October.

I really have no idea, but perhaps a reader might be able to identify it. Trouble is, of course, that it could well be the result of crossbreeading between two different members of the cucurbit family ... either way, it looks like a beautiful squash! It would be helpful to know what the flesh was like - from the image it looks to be firm and dense like butternut squash rather than a pumpkin. If I get any more information from Steve I'll update this post.

And another one ...
I just found another email languishing in my inbox from a reader wanting help with identifying a vegetable. Julia Royce writes:

We recently had our garden cleared (when we bought the house the garden was completely overgrown - mainly with bindweed and ivy, and covered with a layer of gravel; apparently it was meant to be low maintenance!). In the process we found some, as we thought, lovely little potatoes in one of the beds. Having washed them, we find they are not pots! ... Can you identify it? We'd love to eat them if we can...

I wonder if this is a vegetable at all, and is actually some kind of flower bulb? I am going to consult Simon Hickmott's Unusual Vegetables book - my only thought was Chinese artichokes, but I don't think that's right. Your comments and thoughts are more than welcome below, as always.

Comments

[Michelle Edwards]

These bulbs look exactly like bluebell bulbs that I have growing at my place

[Simon Kirby]

Yes, the round ones at the front of the bowl do look like bluebells, and the starchy tubers at the back might just be Lords and Ladies. I hope someone's having a joke here because they're both poisonous.

[Rosalind Hallett]

The bulbs are most definitely Bluebells, and if they are in a garden, they are probably the Spanish variety. They are very poisonous, and should not be eaten. equally, they are a problem to our native species, which hybridise easily with them. Please encourage your correspondent to dispose of them carefully.

[Matron]

I wonder if that squash is an Atlantic Giant? Mine came out all different shapes and sizes last year, the skin colour is almost identical to your photo.

[Martine]

That squash looks like a Pink Banana or a Pink Jumbo Banana and if so it nust have made a good soup!

[Flower Girl]

No I cannot identify...you are right martine...That squash looks like a Pink Banana or a Pink Jumbo Banana and if so it nust have made a good soup!

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[Philipe]

I agree. That makes good sense. And tasty too.

[joan]

We've just cooked and eaten (little bits in case it's poisonous) a little round squash that we found growing in our garden.
The fruit is the size of a gem squash but the colour is light green with very light stripes - so light that overall it doesn't show until you look closely at it.
Anyway, the skin is hard - crackable even after it's been boiled for an hour. However, the flesh inside is golden yellow - small whitish seeds. The flesh is exactly like gem squash - stringy.
SO my question is - can anyone identify this squash and can I go ahead and eat the whole thing?
Not the skin of course.But are all squashed edible as a rule?

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[stevie]

Joan,

squashes generally are edible - the only reason for non-edibility being that the squash tastes foul or is made of too little flesh to be bothered to eat.

Sounds like one of those little ornamental squashes you can get in home furnishing shops. My father has one of these plants growing in his greenhouse. Pretty.

[Anabatarse]

Looks like Chilacayote since the skin's color can be yellow to green. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita_ficifolia