Onion shaped squash around 1 kg, with a deep red skin and orange flesh.
Requires a rich, well-drained moisture retentive soil and a very warm, sunny and sheltered position.
A frost-tender annual plant, it is widely cultivated in tropical and temperate zones for its edible fruit.
Edible uses
Flowers are often dipped in batter and fried.
A delicious flavour when baked, rather like a sweet potato. The flesh can be dried, ground into a powder and used with cereals in making bread, cakes etc.
The leaves contain up to 5% protein.
An oil is obtained from the seed.
Rich in oil with a very pleasant nutty flavour but very fiddly to use because the seed is small and covered with a fibrous coat. The seed can be ground into a powder and used in baked goods such as bread.