STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 211 



If the s^monymy be closely examined, it will be noted that some of the figures represent 

 cucnimbers as highly improved as at the present day. The Cucumis longus of J. Bauhin 

 is figured as if equalling our longest and best English forms; the concombre of Tournefort 

 is also a highly improved form, as is also the cucumeres of Matthiolus, 1558. 



Cucurbita maxima Duchesne. Cucurhitaceae. turban squash. 



Nativity undetermined. The Turban squash is easily recognized by its form, to 

 which it is'indebted for its name. This is possibly the Chilean mamillary Indian gourd 

 of Molina,* described as with spheroidal fruit with a large nipple at the end, the pulp sweet 

 and tasting like the sweet potato. In 1856, Naudin ^ describes le turban rouge and le turban 

 nouveau du Bresil, the latter of recent introduction from South America. Its description 

 accords with the Cucurbita clypeiformis tuberoso and verrucosa, seen by J. Bauhin ' in 

 1607. The Zapilliot, from Brazil, advertised by Gregory in 1880, and said by Vilmorin 

 to have reached France from South America about i860, resembles the Turban squash 

 in shape. This evidence, such as it is, points to South America as the starting point of 

 this form. 



The squashes of our markets, par excellence, are the marrows and the Hubbard, 

 with other varieties of the succulent-stemmed. These found representation in our seed 

 catalog in 1828,^ in the variety called Com. Porter's Valparaiso, which was brought from 

 Chile shortly after the war of 1812. In the New England Farmer, Septemhev 11, 1824, notice 

 is 'made of a kind of melon-squash or pimipkin from Chile, which is possibly the Valpa- 

 raiso. The Hubbard squash is said by Gregory, its introducer in 1857, to be of unknown 

 origin but to resemble a kind which was brought by a sea captain from the West Indies. 

 The Marblehead, also introduced by Gregory and distributed in 1867, is said to have 

 come directly from the West Indies. The Autimmal Marrow or Ohio, was introduced 

 in 1832 and was exhibited at the rooms of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



The Turban squash does not appear in any of the figures or descriptions of the 

 herbalists, except as hereinafter noted for Lobel. 



C. moschata Duchesne. Canada crookneck. cushaw. winter crookneck. 



Nativity undetermined. The Winter Crookneck squash seems to have been first 

 recorded by Ray,* who received the seeds from Sir Hans Sloane and planted them in his 

 garden. This is the variety now known as the Striped. It has apparently been grown 

 in New England from the earliest times and often attains a large size. Josselyn * refers 

 to a cucurbit that may be this, the fruit " longish like a gourd," the very comparison made 

 by Ray. Kalm ^ mentions a winter squash in New Jersey called " crooked neck," and 

 Carver, 1776, speaks of " crane-necks " being preserved in the West for winter supply. 



' Molina Hist. Chili i :93. 1808. 

 ' Naudin A tin. Sci. Nat. 4th ser. 

 'Bauhin, J. Hist. PI. 2:227. 1651. 



Thorbum Cat. 1828. 



' Ray Hist. PI. 1:642. 1686. 



* Josselyn, J. New Eng. Rar. 89. 1672. 

 'Kalm, P. Trav. No. Amer. 1:271. 1772. 



