Name, Taxonomy, Botany

 

Scientific Names:

 Kingdom:  Plantae
 Division:  Magnoliophyta
 Class:  Magnoliopsida
 Order:  Cucurbitales
 Family:  Cucurbitaceae
 Scientific name:  Citrullus lanatus
 Synonyms:  Citrullus vulgaris
 Genus:  Citrullus
 Species:  lanatus

 

Common Names:

 

 English :  Watermelon
 Bahasa Melayu :  Tembikai; Semangka; Mendikai
 Mandarin:  Xigua
 Tamil:  Kumati palam
 Indonesian:  Semangka; Cimangko (Indonesia), Watesan (Java)
 Tagalog (Philippines):  Pakwan
 Vietnamese:  Döa haáu
 Afrikaans:  Waatlemoen
 Arabic:  Battikh, Bateekh, Betteakh (Egypt)
 Bengali:  Taramuj
 Bulgarian:  Dinia
 Chinese:  Xi gua ( Cantonese Si koa), Shi yong xi gua, Choei koa, Ts’ing teng koa, Han koa, Hia koa
 Croatian:  Lubenica
 Czech:  Lubenice meloun
 Danish:  Vandmelon
 Dutch:  Watermeloen
 Finnish:  Vesimeloni, Arpuusi
 French:  Melon d’eau, Pastèque
 German:  Wassemelone (East Germany), Wassermelone , Gewöhnliche Wassermelone, Wasserzitrulle, Wasser-melone
 Greek:  Karpusi, Karpouzia (Cyprus)
 Gujarati:  Tarabuucha
 Hebrew:  Avatiach, Avatiach pashut
 Hindi:  Kharbuza ( kharmuja), Tarabuuza (Tarbooz, Tarbuj, Tarbuz, Tarmuj)
 Hungarian:  Görögdinnye
 Italian:  Anguria, Cocomero, Melone d’acqua, Pastecca
 Japanese:  Suika, Suika, Shokuyou suika (Shokuyô suika), Shokuyou suika, Shokuyou suika
 Khmer:  ‘öö’w llök
 Korean:  Su bak (Soo bahk)
 Laotian:  Môô, Tèèng môô
 Macedonian:  Lubenica
 Marathi:  Tarabuuja
 Nepalese:  Tarabuujaa (Tarbuja)
 Norwegian:  Vannmelon
 Persian:  Raqqi
 Polish:  Arbuz, Kawon
 Portuguese:  Melancia, Melância
 Pujabi:  Tarabuuja
 Romanian:  Pepene verde
 Russian:  Arbuz, Arbuz stolovyj
 Serbian:  Lubenitsa
 Slovenian:  Lubenice
 Spanish:  Sandía (Spain), Melón de agua (Cuba), Albudeca
 Sundanese:  Samangka
 Swahili:  Mtango, Mtikiti
 Swedish:  Vattenmelon
 Thai:  Taeng chin (Peninsular Thailand), Taeng moh (Central Thailand), Matao (Northern Thailand)
 Turkish:  Karpuz
 Ukranian:  Karpuz

 

General Biology:
Watermelon belongs to the Cucurbitaceae or gourd family. It is a trailing annual with stems, as long as 400 cm and chayote. The roots are shallow (40-50 cm) and extensive (60-90 cm), with taproot and many lateral roots.

 

Watermelon is a warm season crop and is not chill-resistant. It requires a long growing season in the subtropics, but fast growing in the tropical regions. Flowering and fruit development are promoted by high light intensity and high temperature.

 

Leaf: Leaves are ovate (oval but broader towards the base) to obovate (oval but broader at the apex), 8-20 cm long, scabrid (rough to touch) and deeply pinnatified. The lobes are pinnately divided inti three or four pairs of lobes (see picture below).

 

Stem: The stems are hairy, rounded to angular in cross-section, and have branched tendrils at each node. The stems are highly branched and long (up to 400 cm). The tendrils are pinnately divided into three or four pairs of lobes.

 

Flowers and sex expression: Watermelons bear separate male and female flowers on the same plant (monoecious). The flowers are unisexual, solitary, axillary and pedicillate. The pedicel of male flower is slender and 12-30 cm long; the female flower pedicel is slightly stouter.

 

Female flower: Calyx and corolla as in male. Staminodes 3, tounge-shaped or represented by setae. Ovary is ovoid, pubescent, with 3 placentas and many ovules; style short, columnar; stigmas 3, thick and kidney-shaped (Dayer 1975). Only female flowers set fruit. Bees are necessary for pollen transfer pollen.

 

Male flower: Calyx 5-lobed; tube campanulate; corolla 5-lobed; lobes ovate-oblong, glandular-hairy or setose outside. Stamen 3 or 4, one anther 1-thecous; thecae bent; connective flat and broad; inserted at base of calyx tube. Pistil is absent (Dayer 1975).

 

Watermelon flowers are small, 4-5 cm across, sulphur yellow in color, and less showy than other cucurbits. A few older varieties and accessions collected from the wild are andromonoecious, i.e having staminate and hermaphrodite flowers. Flowering begins at about eight weeks after seeding, with the production of staminate flowers and later followed by the production of pistillate flowers. In some varieties hermaphrodite flowers develop after the production of staminate flowers.

 

Most varieties have a ratio of 7:1 staminate to perfect or pistillate flower. There are some varieties with a ratio of 4:1. There is no advantage of andromonoecious sex expression because even the perfect flowers must be cross-pollinated to set fruit. For successful seedless watermelon production, bees are especially important as seedless varieties do not produce pollen. The pollinator variety is planted in alternate or every third row, or as every third plant in the row. Use a distinctly different variety as pollinator in order to easily distinguish seedless fruit. Icebox varieties used as pollinators result in early yields; picnic varieties used as pollinators result in greater total yields. Icebox varieties usually flower 7–10 days earlier than picnic varieties, so delay icebox pollinator planting.

 

Fruit: The fruit consists of a firm outer rind, a layer of white inner rind flesh of 0.5-1.4 cm thick, and an interior colored edible pulp embedded with seeds (seedy types). The fruit is round to oblong. The skin is smooth with color ranging from yellow, orange, light green to almost black, either solid or striped with a paler green or marbled. The flesh may be white, cream yellow, pale red, red or dark red. The edible part of the fruit is the endocarp (placenta), which contrasts with muskmelon (Cucumis melo), where the edible part of the fruit is the mesocarp. Fruit weight is usually 415 kg. But in Asia, smaller fruit in the range of 1-4 kg is popular. Fruit rind varies from thin to thick and from brittle to tough.

 

Seed: The seeds are embedded in the edible pulp, small in size (4-6 cm), long and flattened (Stone 1970). Seed color can be white, tan, brown, black, red, green, or mottled.

 

Taxonomy and Species Relationship:
Watermelon has 22 chromosomes in the diploid form. The genus Citrullus belongs to the sub-tribe Benincasinae. Other members of similar genera in Cucurbitaceae are Acanthosicyos and Eureiandra whilst those with 22 chromosomes include Gymnopetalum, Lagenaria, Momordica, Trichosanthes and Melothria. The genus Citrullis has now been revised to include C. lanatus, C. ecirrhosus, C. colocynthis, and C. rehmii.

 

Reference:

 

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