In the 1500's both Spanish and French explorers in the Americas thought they had come upon lavish plantings of melons, both in the southwest and along the St. Lawrence River.

These 'gros melons' were in fact pumpkins, a native squash. At the time squashes were unknown in Europe and Asia, and melons did not grow in the Americas. Though related to both melons, cucumbers and gourds, squashes were American all the way, probably originating in Mexico and Central America.

Pumpkins were not the only squashes there-Native Americans had been growing many different varieties for generations. The Spanish carried what they found back to Europe in the early 1500's. By the 18th century the Italians worked to develop and cultivate the green-skinned, fingerling squash, which became 'zucchini'. In general Europeans did not grow squashes in any numbers until the 19th century. The squash reached Asia and North Africa in the 1600's but little is known of its history there.