Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) may be round or oblong in shape. It has a smooth skin and may vary in colour from light green to dark green. Some varieties have stripes. The flesh may be white, creamy yellow, pale red, red or dark red. Watermelon flesh is juicy and crunchy. It consists of 90% water. Their seeds are usually black and embedded in the fruit. There are seedless varieties as well.

Watermelon grows on soft vines on the ground. The stems are hairy and have tendrils for climbing. The leaves are oval in shape and deeply lobed. The watermelon is mainly pollinated by honey bees.

Watermelon grows well in a hot, dry climate with plenty of sunshine. The best soils for growing watermelon are those that are not prone to water-logging with a pH of 5.8-7.2.

Watermelon is grown both for domestic consumption as well as export.

Watermelon is commonly eaten as fresh fruit or processed into juice. Some of it is also packed into tins or boxes. The watermelon seeds are made into snacks similar to sunflower seeds which are rich in carbohydrates and fat.

Notes on Taxonomy

The watermelon is classified under the family of Cucurbitaceae which has about 90 genera and 750 species almost equally divided between the old and new world tropics, with 7 genera common to both hemispheres.

It is a relative of melons ( Cucumis melo ), cantaloupe, honeydew , crenshaw, winter and summer squashes (Cucurbita pepo var.melopepo), pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo var. pepo), gourds and cucumbers (Cucumis sativus). They are composed of many species of “vines crops” with spreading growth habits that are all warm season annuals that prefer hot and humid weather.

The cultivated species are tendril-climbing or prostrate annuals (typically tendrils are produced at the axis of the stem), or occasionally perennial rapid growing plants.