Golden melon ( 金瓜 )

scientific: Gymnopetalum chinense
pinyin: jīn guā
hanzi: 金瓜

• seems to translate as Golden melon.^[1]

• one online Chinese dictionary specifies: ‘pumpkin (Gymnopetalum chinense).’^[1:1]

  • the digital version of Flora of China does have Gymnopetalum chinense as ‘金瓜 jin gua’.^[2]

• meanwhile, dropping 金瓜 into Baidu Baike gives us both:

  • zucchini (Cururbita pepo L.)^[3]
  • pumpkin (Trichosanthes costata Blume), which is native to southern China^[4]

• World Flora Online thankfully explains that Gymnopetalum chinense is a synonym of Trichosanthes costata Blume, so… it’s probably that?^[5]

• looks like it gets made into a type of pu er.^[6]

Footnotes