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'''Watermelon''' (''Citrullus lanatus'', Family [[Cucurbitaceae]]) is the [[fruit]] and [[plant]] of a vine-like (climber and trailer) [[herb]] originally from southern [[Africa]]. This [[flowering plant]] bears an [[accessory fruit]] of a type that [[botany|botanists]] call a ''[[false berry]]''. The watermelon fruit, loosely considered a type of [[melon]] (although not in the genus ''[[Cucumis]]''), has a smooth exterior rind (green and yellow) and a juicy, sweet, usually red interior flesh. The species descriptor ''Citrullus vulgaris'' is sometimes, synonymously, used to refer to this plant (''vulgaris'' meaning "common" — Shosteck, 1974).
==History==
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[[David Livingstone]], an explorer of Africa, described watermelon as abundant in the [[Kalahari Desert]], where it is believed to have originated. There, the ancestral melon grows wild and is known as the '''Tsamma''' melon (''Citrullus lanatus'' var ''citroides''). It is recognizable by its [[pinnatifid]] leaves and prolific fruit, up to 100 melons on a single vine. For this reason it is a popular source of water in the diet of the indigenous people, as well as a food for humans and livestock. The flesh is similar to the [[rind]] of a watermelon and is often known as citron melon (distinct from the actual [[citron]], of the citrus family); it is used for making pickles, and because of its high content of [[pectin]] is popular as a constituent of jams, jellies, and other gelled preserves. It has established itself in the wild in [[Baja California]].
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[[Image:Watermelon.jpg|left|thumb|Watermelon slices]]
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It is not known when the plant was first cultivated, but the earliest watermelon harvest of record occurred in dynastic [[Egypt]] nearly 5,000 years ago, and is depicted in hieroglyphs. The fruit was often placed in the tombs of [[pharaohs]] as sustenance in the afterlife. In fact, in Egyptian myth, watermelons originated from the [[semen]] of [[Set (mythology)|Set]].
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By the 10th century A.D., watermelon was being cultivated in [[China]], which is today the world's single largest watermelon producer. By the 13th century, [[Moors|Moorish]] invaders had introduced the fruit to Europe; and, according to John Mariani's ''The Dictionary of American Food & Drink'', "watermelon" made its first appearance in an English dictionary in 1615.
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''Museums Online South Africa'' list watermelons as having been introduced to [[North America|North American]] [[Native Americans in the United States|Indians]] in the 1500s. Early French explorers found Native Americans cultivating the fruit in the [[Mississippi Valley]]. Many sources list the watermelon as being introduced in [[Massachusetts]] as early as 1629. [[US South|Southern]] food historian John Egerton has said he believes African [[Atlantic slave trade|slaves]] helped introduce the watermelon to the [[United States]]. Texas Agricultural Extension horticulturalist Jerry Parsons, Ph.D., lists African slaves and European colonists as having distributed watermelons to many areas of the world. Parsons also mentions the crop being farmed by Native Americans in [[Florida]] (by 1664) and the [[Colorado River]] area (by 1799). Other early watermelon sightings include the [[US Midwest|Midwestern states]] (1673), [[Connecticut]] (1747), and the [[Illiana]] region (1822).
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Until the 1940s, however, it was hard to find watermelons in good condition at grocery stores. Melon lovers had to grow their own, which tended not to keep for long, purchase them from local grocers supplied by [[Truck farming|truck farmers]], or purchase them from roadside produce stands.
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Then Charles Fredric Andrus, a horticulturist at the [[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]] Vegetable Breeding Laboratory in [[Charleston, South Carolina]], set out to produce a disease-resistant and wilt-resistant watermelon. The result was "that gray melon from Charleston." Its oblong shape and hard rind made it easy to stack and ship. Its adaptability meant it could be grown over a wide geographical area. It produced high yields and was resistant to the most serious watermelon diseases: [[anthracnose]] and [[fusarium wilt]]. Today, farmers in approximately 44 states in the U.S. grow watermelon commercially, and almost all these varieties have some ''Charleston Gray'' in their lineage. [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] (Cordele, Ga. is the watermelon capital of the world), Florida, [[Texas]], [[California]] and [[Arizona]] are the nation's largest watermelon producers.
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[[Image:Watermelon_seedless.jpg|thumb|small seedless watermelon]]
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This now-common watermelon is large enough that groceries often sell half or quarter melons. There are also some smaller, spherical varieties of watermelon, both red- and yellow-fleshed, sometimes called "icebox melons."
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==Culture==
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