Title: Melons-Squash-art
Subject: "Melons and Squashes" by Mistress Agnes deLanvallei.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: melon, vegetable, squash, gourd, cucumber, history

Melons-Squash-art - 3/6/17

"Melons and Squashes" by Mistress Agnes deLanvallei.

NOTE: See also the files: Cucumbers-Hst-art, gourds-msg, cucumbers-msg, P-Cowcumbers-art, veg-stuffed-msg, Watermelons-art, watermelons-msg.

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Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous
stefan at florilegium.org
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Melons and Squashes
by Agnes deLanvallei

Melons and squashes are plants in the cucumber family, Cucurbitaceae.  This group is both Old and New World and the names have become quite confused.
 
Table 1. Cultivated species of Cucurbitaceae
COMMON NAME | Scientific Name | Origin | Comments/sources
balsam apple | Momordica dioica | India and Asia | Mostly wild [1] Pictured in [6] Italy 1517
balsam pear | Momordica charantia,  see melon, bitter | |
calabash (gourd) | see gourd, bottle | |
cantaloupe | Cucumis melo | Africa [2] | [2], [4], [5]
chayote or christophine | Sechium edule | Mexico [4]    Central America [5] | 1, 4, 5   Cultivated by Aztecs [1], [4]
citron or preserving melon | Citrullus lanatus var. citroides | Africa [2], [4] | small fruits, white flesh [2], [4]
cococynth | Citrullus cococynthus | Africa [2] | Watermelon relative:  seeds in Egyptian archaeological sites from 3800 BC; bitter, not cultivated. Also called bitter gourd [2]
cucumber | Cucumis sativus | South-central Asia [2], [5] | Written records of cucumbers from western Asia 1000 BC; grown in classical Greece & Rome; not to China until 2nd Century AD [2], [4], [5]

cushow, green striped

Cucurbita
argyrospermaa

S. Mexico [4]

[3], [4], [5]

gherkin | Cucumis anguria | Africa [2], [5] | 2,5  The name "West Indian gherkin" is misleading: came from Africa with the slave trade [2]
gourd, bitter | Momordica charantia See bitter melon | |

gourd, bottle

Lagenaria sicerariac

Tropical Africa, Madagascar [1]

cultivated throughout world: "gourds" [1]
Earliest cultivated records: central and South America 7000 BC; Africa 2000 BC; China 1000 BC [1]

gourd, figleaf; | Cucurbita ficifolia | Peru [5] | Known from Peru 3000-4000 BC;long cultivated Mexico to S America [5] also called Malabar gourd

gourd, Malabar

Cucurbita ficifolia
See figleaf gourd

gourd, wax | Benincasa hispida | Southern China [4] | Alternate names, winter melon, white gourd, white pumpkin, hairy melon, fuzzy melon;  SE Asia before 600 AD1, [4]  A tropical plant grown mainly in Asia; however, it travels well.
luffa | Luffa acutangula, L. cylindricad | Asia [4] | young fruit edible [1], [4], [5] Probably domesticated in India but records lacking:  not reported in China until AD 618-9001; Europe??
marrow, winter | Cucurbita maxima | S. America [4] | 3,4,5

melon

Cucumis melo

Africa [2], [4], [5]

Earliest cultivated reference: India 2000 BC; [2] China 1000 BC2  Apparently not know in Egypt or Greece, came to Europe at end of Roman Empire [5]
deCandolle in 1886 --a classic work on cultivated plants --suggested 'sikua' of Theophrastus and 'pepon' of Dioscorides were melons, but modern writers are doubtful [2] Very varied by 1517: see pictures in  [6]

melon, bitter | Momordica charantia | Asia [1], [4], [5] | [1],[4]  Minor melon, not much known of origins.  Picture in 7 (Italy 1517)  Also called balsam pear5, bitter gourd
melon, egusi | Cucumeropsis edulis, Cucumeropsis manii | West Africa [5] | Cultivated in West Africa for oily seeds, which are cooked [1] [5]
melon, honeydew | Cucumis melo | | [2], [4], [5]
melon, pickling | Cucmis melo | | described in China 1000-500 BC [2]
melon, winter | See gourd, wax | |
muskmelon | Cucumis melo | | 2,4,5 described in China 1000-500 BC [2]

pumpkin

Cucurbita
argyrospermaa,
Cucurbita ficifolia,
Cucurbita
maxima,
Cucurbita moschata, Cucurbita  pepo

Central and South America [3], [4], [5]

[3], [4], [5]

snake-gourd | Trichosanthes cucumerina | Asia, Australia5 | Cultivated in India, Far East5

squash, acorn

Cucurbita pepo,
Cucurbita ficifolia

West Indies, S. America4

[3], [4], [5]

squash, butternut | Cucurbita moschata | Mexico or South America4 | [3], [4], [5]
squash, crookneck | Cucurbita pepo | Mexico, SE US [4] | [3], [4]

squash, hubbard

Cucurbita
argyrospermaa

Mexico or South America [4]

[3], [4], [5]

squash, ornamental | Cucurbita pepo | Mexico, SE US [4] | [3], [4], [5]
squash, spaghetti | Cucurbita pepo | Mexico, SE US [4] | [3], [4], [5]
squash, summer | Cucurbita pepo | SE USA, Mexico [4] | [3], [4], [5]
squash, turban | Cucurbita argyrosperma | Mexico or S America [4] | [3], [4], [5]

squash, winter

Cucurbita argyrospermaa,
Cucurbita maxima
Cucurbita moschata, Cucurbita  pepo

SE USA to South America [4]

[3], [4], [5]

watermelon

Citrullus lanatus var.lanatusb

Central Africa [4]

Seeds in Egypt 2000 BC [2], [4], [5]
Mediterranean region from 1000 BC. [5] Watermelons vary in size, shape (round to oblong to elliptical, color of rind (hues of green, with or without stripes or spots), color of flesh (white to red to yellow or orange) and color of seeds (white to reddish brown and black): these variant forms were recorded by the European Middle Ages [2] See pictures in [6]

zucchini | Cucurbita pepo | Mexico [4] | [2], [4], [5]
 
NOTES
a Cucurbita mixta is an outdated name of Cucurbita argyrosperma
b Citrullus vulgaris is an outdated scientific name for Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus, watermelon [5]
c Lagenaria vulgaris and L. leucantha are outdated scientific names for bottle gourd, L. siceraria1
d Luffa aegyptica is an outdated scientific name for luffa, L. cylindrica1
 
Earliest archaelogical finding  (domestication) of: Cucurbita argyrosperma 5000 BC Mexico [3]; Cucurbita ficifolia, Peru 1000 BC [3]; Cucurbita maxima:  Peru, 2000 BC [3] ;Cucurbita moschata 4900 BC, southern Mexico [3];  Cucurbita pepo, southern Mexico 8000 BC [3].
 
Comments: 
 
Squashes:  The common names of the squashes are all mixed up, but all are New World.  Many reached Europe very early in the 16th century:  see pictures in Festoons of Cupid and Psyche [6]
 
Gourds: Bottle gourd is Old World (and New World) and has many forms.  Some other gourds are clearly New World species.
 
Melons: All are Old World but while most are Cucumis (or Citrullus) there are bitter melons and other minor species pictured in 1517 (see 6 )
 
Pumpkins:  this group is very mixed up.  Most if not all modern pumpkins are New World.  The term "pompon" in French is pre-1492, however, and must refer to small melons of some sort.
 
References
 
[1] Bates, David M., Laura C. Merrick, and Richard W. Robertson. 1995.  Minor cucurbits.  Pp. 105-111 IN: J. Smartt and N. W. Simmonds.  Evolution of Crop Plants. 2nd ed. Longman Scientific and Technical, London.
 
[2] Bates, David M. and Richard W. Robertson. 1995.  Cucumbers, melons and water-melons.  Pp. 89-96 IN: J. Smartt and N. W. Simmonds.  Evolution of Crop Plants. 2nd ed. Longman Scientific and Technical, London.
 
[3] Merrick, Laura C. 1995.  Squashes, pumpkins and gourds.  Pp. 97-105 IN: J. Smartt and N. W. Simmonds.  Evolution of Crop Plants. 2nd ed. Longman Scientific and Technical, London.
 
[4] Simpson, Beryl B. and Molly C. Ogorzaly. 2001. Economic botany. Plants in our world. 3rd ed. McGraw Hill-Boston.
 
[5] Vaughan, J. G. and C. A. Geissler. 1997.  The new Oxford book of food plants. Oxford University Press, Oxford U.K.
 
[6] Whipkey,  Anna and Jules Janick  2005. The festoons of the Cupid and Psyche in the Loggia in the Villa Farnesina. An interactive database http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/udine/info.html
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Copyright 2009 by Holly Howarth. <sablegreyhound at hotmail.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited.  Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, please place a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	Melons-Squash-art	 of