Citrullus colocynthis  (L.) Schrad.         var. lanatus  (Thumb.) Matsum & Nakai   =Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus                                                                      =Citrullus vulgaris                                                                                   Cucurbitaceae (Gourd Family)                                                                    Africa   Watermelon

                                   June Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Monoecious annual, +/- hairy, with long trailing stems bearing branched tendrils; lf. blades ovate in outline, 3-8 cm. long,  pinnately divided into 3-4 pairs of lobes, these again lobed and toothed, the segms. broad at apex; corolla ca. 4 cm. in diam., 5-parted nearly to base; ovary with 3-placentae and many ovules; stigmas 3;  fr. hemispherical to ellipsoid, hard, smooth, green striped; seeds white to black, in a sweet red to greenish or white flesh.

Habitat:  Occasional escape from cult.  Bloom dates not given in Munz, but would normally be summer. (my comment).

Name.  Latin diminutive of citrus, having a similar odor and flavor.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 391).  Latin, lanatus, wooly. (Jaeger 136).  The species name probably refers to the hairy leaves and stems. (my comment).  Latin, colo, to inhabit and cynthus, the birthplace of Apollo and Diana. (Simpson 116, 165). Colocynthis, to inhabit a place of the Gods, possibly referring to the sweet fruit.  (my comment).

General:  Rare in the study area, having been found only once, and this in the Santa Ana Heights area near Jamboree Rd.  (my comment).      Although an Old World plant, watermelons appear to have preceded the Spanish advance into the Southwest.  Father Kino reported watermelons being grown by the Indians at Las Sandias near the Gila junction as early as 1700.  Other Spanish explorers observed watermelon being grown by Colorado River tribes, including Juan Bautista de Anza whose expedition was offered three thousand watermelons by the Yuma Indians.  Watermelons were mentioned as being grown by the Cahuilla, Indians of the Colorado Desert, the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mountains, near present-day Thermal by Don Jose Maria Estudillo, a member of the first Spanish expedition to cross Coachella Valley.  The Cahuilla ate watermelons fresh or cut peel into strips and dried them for winter use.  They may also have buried watermelon in sand for short-term storage as was done by some of the Colorado River Tribes.  (Bean and Saubel 55).       About. 4 species of trop. Old World.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 391).        John Johnson believes that there was an active trade between the Indians of the southwest and the Aztecs and Central Americans.  Two hundred years had elapsed between the time the Spanish were first in Mexico until they entered California and the Colorado River regions, allowing for the dispersal of watermelon seeds.

Text Ref:  Bailey 954;  Hickman, Ed. 536; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 391.

Photo Ref:  June-July 87 # 21,22,23; July-Aug 87 # 18.

Identity: by R. De Ruff.

First Found:  July 1987.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 302.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit 5/6/05.  

                                    July Photo                                                           August Photo