Black Beauty

Black Beauty is an heirloom zucchini with dark green, matte skin that deepens to nearly black as the fruit reaches full maturity, enclosing creamy white flesh. Left on the vine, the fruit continues to enlarge but loses quality once it grows much beyond eating size, so it rewards frequent picking. The plant itself is semi-spineless and grows in an open habit that keeps the fruit visible along the stem. However it is prepared, the flesh is noted for good flavor.

Black Beauty suits both raw and cooked preparations: it can be cut into thin rounds for dipping, coated and pan-fried, or worked into soups, salads, casseroles, and veggie lasagna. It also makes good zoodles. Picked young and tender, it is well suited to lighter treatments such as steaming, sautéing, or stir-frying, and while it freezes well for later use, it is considered best enjoyed fresh from the garden.

Black Beauty grows as an early, very productive bush-type plant that is fast-growing and easy to manage. In trials it stood out for combining sweet-tasting fruit with sizeable but manageable yields on large, vigorous plants, and it resisted powdery mildew longer than similar varieties. Kept picked regularly, the plants continue producing abundantly through the summer season.

Black Beauty was developed at a Connecticut state agricultural research station located in Storrs, where breeders stabilized a cross between the 'Salerno' and 'Caserta' squash varieties. The resulting zucchini went on to win an All-America Selections award in 1957, a recognition that helped establish it as a widely grown heirloom.