John Gerard (1545–1612) author of the most famous English Herball of 1597 and the playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616) were contemporaries in London. Their references to cucurbits (Cucurbitaceae) and nightshades (Solanaceae) encapsulate knowledge of these plants from both a scientific and a literary perspective in the English Renaissance. The Old World genera of the Cucurbitaceae (Byronia, Citrullus, Cucumis, Ecballium, Lagenaria, Momordica, and Solanaceae ( Hyoscyamus, Mandragora, Physalis, Solanum) had a rich history in both medicine and food production in Antiquity and Medieval times in the Old World. The introduction of new crop species (Capsicum, Datura, Nicotiana, and Solanum) into Europe and Asia after the European encounter with the New World had a profound impact on world agriculture. References to cucurbits and nightshades in the 1597 Herball of John Gerard and the plays of Shakespeare a reflect scientific and public awareness of these species in the English Renassance.