Why the Warts?

Let's fess up, we're used to pumpkins looking like pumpkins. We think of Cinderella's round, smooth orange carriage parked outside the social gala in wait for her midnight getaway. That perfect pumpkin turned horse-powered transport is the orange standard of all pumpkins. End of story, end of today's blog . . . not so fast.

Pumpkins technically have no botanical meaning - they are in the Cucurbitaceae family which contains hundreds of species of squash, pumpkins, zucchini, melons and gourds. All the differences between the species of cucurbits (for short) are classified by their variations in seeds, leaves and fruit stalks. Take it a step further and the different varieties of cucurbits have unique shapes, colors, sizes and warts. Good news is that bees like flowers on all of them.

Warts you say. Yes, warts. Most people don't like warts and usually ask a doctor to remove them. Back in my day - every Tuesday at the University of Montana health service was designated as wart removal day. Students lined up around the block to have their warts removed. I stood in line a time or two and had a few frozen off from my lower left arm with the liquid nitrogen concoction they used. I still have a scar to prove they were there. Back to pumpkins.

Why the warts? And why do some of the warts look strangely similar to peanuts? This year there seemed to be more and more warty cucurbits for sale at garden centers, farmers markets and grocery stores. I didn't make it out to visit any of the popular pumpkin patches, so don't know if they were selling warty ones to the kiddos. I wonder if young people are drawn to these unusual looking and bumpy tactile specimens. I'll admit, I'm more than intrigued....I find them fascinating, so I thought I needed to dig for more insight.

The shortest answer to why the warts is...wait for it...drum roll please..."they've always had some warts." But wart popularity is growing, so companies are taking advantage of breeding for more warts on cucurbits, which must translate to selling more warts - ah hah...the mighty WART dollar! Seed breeders are even breeding for larger warted pumpkins so they are more scary for Halloween. I guess that's good news, I'm such a wimp that a black cat is all it takes for me.

According to one article I read, Sieger's Seed Company based in Holland, MI has taken the lead in cross-breeding to make cucurbits that are "adequately covered in warts to be sold under the Super Freak Label"and it takes them ten generations to do so.

Internet Photo 'Red Warty Thing' Cucurbita maxima

Another search took me to a person named James J. H. Gregory from Marblehead, Massachusetts. He seems to be the most famous breeder of hubbard squash all the way back to 1897. His book Squashes and How to Grow Them is still in print today. His 'Victor' or 'Red Warty Thing' seeds are still in commerce. And what a beautiful, warty sight it is to behold.

In addition to intentionally breeding to scare you with more warts there are other reasons cucurbits get warts -

• They can be infected with viruses (four mosaic types in particular, which I won't describe).
• They can have oedma, or a condition that causes water imbalance (weather issues) in the fruit, which results in cells getting bigger, then bursting, then scaring the fruit. It's a bit more complicated that that, but that's the short version.
• Insects like cucumber beetles feed on the fruit before it's developed so the skin hardens and causes lumpy surfaces. 
• And don't forget the first reason - they just are warty, as Mr. Gregory found way back.

Where does this all leave us in the big scheme of fall pumpkins, Halloween, Thanksgiving and the color orange. Nowhere really, just sayin' some pumpkins have warts.