Leonhard Fuchs, De Historia Stirpium (Basel, 1542), 698. Courtesy of the Peter H. Raven Library, Missouri Botanical Garden.   

Europeans Compare Pumpkins to Melons

This illustration of a generic oval-shaped, ribbed fruit labeled Cucumis turcicus ("Turkish cucumber") in Leonard Fuchs’ 1542 botanical dictionary De historia Stirpium resembles many forms of squashes and pumpkins originating in the Americas as well as melons native to Africa and Asia.  The ambiguity of the imagery and terminology – pumpkins, squashes, and melons were all called pompions - reflects overlapping definitions and conceptions of newly introduced plants from the Americas and more familiar fruits and vegetables used for generations in Europe.  Even so, while many  considered sweet melons and juicy cucumbers food for fine dining, they viewed pumpkin and squash as food eaten during desperate times.