Atlantic Giant

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Atlantic Giant

684 King 2005

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Cucurbita
Species:	C. maxima

Atlantic Giant is a recent label for the round phenotypes of the giant squash (popularly called a pumpkin, depending upon fruit color) variety of the species Cucurbita maxima that was bred publicly from simple hubbard material through intermittent efforts over the past centuries.(See Atlantic Giant plant variety protection proceedings USDA #8500204.) As the germplasm of such a giant squash variety is commercially provocative, the appellation "Atlantic Giant" came from a recent U.S. legal protection that was granted for the rounder phenotypes. Numerous labels were created for this variety over the past two centuries. This phenotype graduated back into the public domain, retaining the Atlantic Giant label. Of mention, after the "Atlantic Giant" right expired, an ensuing filing was made in September of 1985 and accepted, purportedly for the oblong phenotypes of the variety, under a label "Dill's Atlantic Giant." This 18-year right expired in 2004, leaving all phenotypes, the entirety, of this originally public variety back into the public domain. The uniqueness of this variety lies in its production of fruits more massive than those produced by any other plant in the world. The heaviest Atlantic Giant on record weighed-in at 681.3 kg (1,502 pounds) and was grown by Ron Wallace in 2006. Under normal conditions the Atlantic Giant can consistently produce fruits in excess of 500 lbs.

Many people use the "Atlantic Giant" for competition at weighoffs and harvest festivals around the world. These rounder phenotypes of the giant squash variety grow larger, thus those which fell under the "Dill's Atlantic Giant" division are generally unused. These gardeners tend to become extraordinarily involved with their pumpkins (see psychology: levels of human identity development). Because of the uncanny genetics of the material, there has been an aggressive and unimpeded increase in fruit weight per generation, and the stability of optimized genomic loci entails the minimal effort that is required to grow a large fruit using the variety; this nature has assured, time and time over, a result of elite fruit size by the mere effort of imbibing the seed and presenting it a modest location for growth. Numerous clubs and organizations dedicated to promoting giant "pumpkin" growing exist worldwide.

Seeds from pumpkins that have been proven to produce big pumpkins can be sold at online auctions for considerable sums of money. The highest price paid for a single pumpkin seed was $850 for a 1068 Wallace seed in 2006 [1].

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