Citrullus
Genus of flowering plants
Citrullus is a genus of seven species of desert vines, among which Citrullus lanatus (the watermelon) is an important crop.
01Taxonomy
Molecular data, including sequences from the original collection of Momordica lanata made near Cape Town by C. P. Thunberg in 1773, show that what Thunberg collected is not what has been called Citrullus lanatus, the domesticated watermelon, since the 1930s. Although this error only occurred in 1930 (Bailey, Gentes Herbarum 2: 180-186), it has been perpetuated in hundreds of papers on the watermelon. In addition, there is an older name for the watermelon, Citrullus battich Forssk. (Fl. Aegypt.-Arab.: 167. Jun 1775), which would normally have the precedence over Momordica lanata Thunberg (Prodr. Pl. Cap.: 13. 1794). To solve this problem, it has been proposed to conserve the name Citrullus lanatus with a new type to preserve the current sense of the name
Species
Citrullus consists of the following species:
- Citrullus amarus Schrad., citron melon
- Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad., colocynth
- Citrullus ecirrhosus Cogn., tendril-less melon
- Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai, desert watermelon
- Citrullus mucosospermus (Fursa) Fursa, egusi melon
- Citrullus naudinianus (Sond.) Hook.f.
- Citrullus rehmii De Winter
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Citrullus”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Vampire watermelon.jpg by James E. Scarborough, Public domain
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.