[Sca-cooks] Winter Squash

[Terry Decker]

>We may have been through this before--I'm not sure--but how can you
>tell they are New World (presumably C. Pepo) rather than Lagenaria?
>Do the paintings show the color of the blossoms?

The Curcubits (New World Squashes) have heavy ridged stems (five or seven
ribs, IIRC), while the gourds and the melons have smoother, almost round
stems.  The botanical drawings in various herbals and some of the highly
detailed Renaissance paintings show the difference.

It might also be possible to identify them by flower or leaf, but it's not
my area of expertise and I tend to find them in paintings which don't show
those.  I obviously need to spend more time digging through herbals.

>
>Also, while I agree that Lagenaria is a likely guess for the medieval
>"pumpkin," do we know that it is more than a guess? _The Four Seasons
>of the House of Cerruti_ and related books do have pictures.
>--
>David/Cariadoc

I don't think there is any definitive proof.  Linguistic evidence and
artistic evidence suggest the transference, but I haven't encountered a full
reasoned exposition.

Bear