Confused about Carnival Squash seeds...

I was reading a few days ago on here about carnival squash.I saved seed from one last year. And was checking up on this variety. What I saw confused me.

"Seed Collecting:
N/A: plant does not set seed, flowers are sterile, or plants will not come true from seed"

Okay...this here is my question. If the flowers are sterile, and the carnival squash doesnt set seed, why do i have seeds? And if they arent supposed to, where do all the plants come from. I am very new to saving seed and all that. I am just curious. Sorry if it appears to be a stupid question.

Thanks, Christine
Tustin MI Zn 5b?

Carnival squash is a hybrid, so the plants you get from seeds will not be exactly like the carnival squash.
You won't know what you're going to get when you save seeds from hybrids. If you want to get into saving your own seeds look for OP types. There are a lot of them.

Cyndie is right on. For whatever reasons plantfiles combines all the reasons not to save seed into one statement. The part that applies to Carnival is "will not come true from seed" It simply means that as an F1 hybrid you will get some true Carnival and some will revert to the parents. Other types of plant will fall into the other categories. Sweet potatoes for example do not set seeds under normal circumstances. There are quite a few flowering plants (ornamentals) developed to be sterile.

Okay...thank you very much. I was kind of confused. So if the plants that come from the saved seed, wont always come true...how do we keep getting the carnival squash. There has to be some way of propigate them? Just curious. LOL I am asuming they plants that are developed to be sterile is to prevent propigation of patented plants?

Thanks, Christine
Tustin MI Zn 5b

An F1 hybrid is a deliberate cross between two cultivars. Pollen from one is used to impregnate the other. In todays world, the breeding stock is usually inbred hybrids. Older types may be a normal OP crossed with another OP. The actual parents are normally kept secret to keep competitors from producing seed. To produce seed you must always cross breed the parent lines. New Op's are developed the same way. Start with F1 hybrid, save seed, select the offspring that best meets your expectations, You usually have to go to F7 -F9 generations for a stable OP. The squash Stripetti is a cross between a delicata and the Vegetable Spaghetti.
Sterile plants are normally propagated by roots, tubers, grafting , rooting etc. Most are perennials and this is simply the easiest way to grow them. Some of the newer ones are invasive in their natural state, and the new sterile cultivars were developed so that plant lovers could enjoy their beauty without having to deal with invasiveness.