Buffalo gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima) is a perennial vine native to the Great Plains and southwestern deserts of the US and Mexico with raspy, herbaceous stems that can grow up to 30 feet long. This member of the cucumber or gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) produces yellow-orange bell-shaped flowers 3-6 inches long that are either ‘male’ (pollen-producing) or ‘female’ (seed-producing), though both occur scattered along the same plant opposite the arrowhead-shaped leaves and climbing tendrils. The round, melon-like fruits are about the size of an orange and are green with narrow white stripes.This species can produce fleshy roots over 6 feet long and weighing over 100 pounds.
The Latin epithet ‘foetidissima’ translates as “most foul smelling”, which may sound hyperbolic until you actually smell Buffalo gourd for yourself. Pat Holmgren and Arthur Cronquist charitably described it as an “underarm” odor in the Intermountain Flora. Despite its stink, buffalo gourd is a valuable food source for wildlife and native peoples. While the flesh of the fruit is inedible, the pumpkin-like seeds can be roasted and eaten. Chemists are interested in buffalo gourd as a potential source of biofuel due to its high concentration of vegetable oils and carbohydrates (especially in the massive roots). It also requires relatively little water and can thrive in hot, arid climates and poor soils.
The potential edibility of buffalo gourd prompted a letter exchange in 1984 between a rural Montanan and Sherman Preece, chair of the Botany Department at the University of Montana (and a PhD student from WSU in the 1950s). The letter writer was a fellow named Ted Kaczynski (a.k.a. the Unabomber). Kaczynzki inquired about how to prepare the root and “remove the apparent cathartic properties of the fruit”. Preece replied promptly and professionally (always a good habit!) and suggested that the presence of cucurbitacins in the plant made them ill-suited for eating, though he suggested repeated boiling and changing the water if one insisted on trying. Kaczynski replied with a polite thank you note. The whole chat is archived at The Ted K Archive. – Walter Fertig, 2 March 2025
