西瓜 Citrullus lanatus

  • Scientific Name: Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
  • Ref: Index Seminum (TI, Tokyo) 1915-1916:30. 1916
  • Synonyms:
    • Anguria citrullus Mill.
    • Citrullus anguria (Duchesne) H.Hara
    • C. aquosus Schur
    • C. battich Forssk.
    • C. caffrorum Schrad.
    • C. chodospermus Falc. & Dunal
    • C. citrullus H.Karst.
    • C. citrullus Small
    • C. edulis Spach
    • C. mucosospermus var. senegalicus (Fursa) Fursa
    • C. pasteca Sageret
    • C. vulgaris Schrad.
    • Colocynthis amarissima Schrad.
    • C. citrullus (L.) Kuntze
    • Cucumis amarissimus Schrad.
    • C. citrullus (L.) Ser.
    • C. dissectus Decne.
    • C. laciniosus Eckl. ex Steud.
    • C. vulgaris (Schrad.) E.H.L.Krause
    • Cucurbita anguria Duchesne
    • C. caffra Eckl. & Zeyh.
    • C. citrullus L.
    • C. gigantea Salisb.
    • C. pinnatifida Schrank
    • Momordica lanata Thunb.
  • English Common Name: watermelon
  • Chinese Common Name: 西瓜 xīguā
  • Japanese Common Name: スイカ [西瓜] suika
  • Family: Cucurbitaceae
  • Genus: Citrullus
  • Distribution: Commonly cultivated in China [native to S Africa; cultivated in all warmer areas of the world].
  • Photo: Mt. Songlan, Ningbo, Zhejiang
Plants annual. Stem and branches robust, sulcate-angular, villous. Tendrils puberulent, 2-fid. Petiole 3-12 cm, densely pubescent; leaf blade white-green, triangulate-ovate, 8-20 × 5-15 cm, both surfaces hispid, 3-partite; segments lobulate, base cordate, sinus semicircular, apex acute or acuminate. Flowers solitary. Male flowers: pedicel 3-4 cm, villous; calyx tube densely villous; segments narrowly lanceolate, 2-3 mm; corolla pale yellow, 2.5-3 cm in diam.; segments ovate-oblong, 1-1.5 × 0.5-0.8 cm; stamens nearly free. Female flowers: calyx and corolla as in male flowers; ovary 5-8 mm, densely villous; stigmas 3, reniform. Fruit globose or oblong, smooth. Seeds numerous, color various, ovate, 1-1.5 × 0.5-0.8 cm. Fl. and fr. Apr-Oct. (Flora of China)

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