Perhaps if it was cut open you'd get a clue. It does look a bit like an apple cucumber, but cross-pollinated with something else. The inside would probably tell if it's cucumber.
lilyfield,
Apr 12, 9:49am
Looks to me like a mis shapen scallopini
loukirby,
Apr 12, 11:26am
That is what my cucumbers look like if I have left them on the vine too long.
Looks like some sort of gourd. Still in the Cucurbitaceae family which are notorious for cross pollinating (promiscuous), so that actual vege may not be a recognised variety but a naturally occuring hybrid.
majoba,
Apr 12, 1:35pm
Yes my other thought was that it might be a gourd. Googled again and found pictures I couldn't fine when I was looking the other day. I think it is a bottle gourd,. Also mentions a white flower which this plant did have.
veejay13,
Apr 12, 1:46pm
I've been doing a lot of googling, too, and I'd go along with what you say, majobaj. By the look of your photo showing the inside, I wouldn't say it would be very nice to eat, would you? Really stirred up some interest, hasn't it.
majoba,
Apr 12, 1:56pm
No it maybe because it is not properly ripe but the flesh does not smell very appetising so I won't be eating it. But I will keep an eye on the ones still on the plant and have a go at drying some. Thanks for your suggestions and interest people.
gamefisher,
Apr 12, 2:09pm
Possibly an unripe 'snap melon'.
oh_hunnihunni,
Apr 12, 2:59pm
I planted store bought lebanese cuke seedlings last year and got horrible prickly wrinkled things that tasted bitter even when young. So when a punkin struck from the ground where my last compost bin rested I didn't hold out a lot of hope. However the beast has now grown the length of the five wire fence and is producing some very fine normal looking fruits - which as they border a public reserve I am watching with great interest!
Thank you geldof, that pretty definitively answers the question. So definitely edible but there is so much great food one can eat, unless it was a source of great nutritional benefit or contained the elixir of youth I can't be faffed with foods which requre additional enhancements to make them appetising. But I am pleased to know what it is.
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