Citron melon

{{Short description|Species of fruit and plant}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} {{hatnote group| {{for multi|green citron melons|Cantaloupe|the citrus fruit|Citron}}{{other uses of|citron|Citron (disambiguation)}} }} {{Speciesbox | image = citron.melon.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = | status = | status_system = | status_ref = {{citation needed|date=}} | genus = Citrullus | species = amarus | authority = Schrad. | synonyms = *''Citrullus colocynthis'' var. ''capensis'' Alef. *''Citrullus lanatus'' f. ''amarus'' (Schrad.) W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes *''Citrullus lanatus'' var. ''capensis'' (Alef.) Fursa *''Citrullus afer'' Schrad. *''Citrullus lanatus'' var. ''afer'' (Schrad.) Mansf. *''Citrullus lanatus'' var. ''citroides'' (L.H.Bailey) Mansf. *''Citrullus vulgaris'' var. ''citroides'' L.H.Bailey | synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |id=291921-1 |title=''Citrullus amarus'' Schrad. |access-date=16 November 2024 }}</ref> }}

The '''citron melon''' ('''''Citrullus amarus'''''), also called '''fodder melon''',<ref name=GRIN>{{GRIN | ''Citrullus amarus'' | 468434 | accessdate=29 March 2015}}</ref> '''preserving melon''',<ref name=GRIN/> '''red-seeded citron''',<ref name=Nesom>{{citation |url=http://www.phytoneuron.net/PhytoN-CucurbConsistency.pdf |author=Nesom, G.L. |year=2011 |title=Toward consistency of taxonomic rank in wild/domesticated Cucurbitaceae |journal=Phytoneuron |volume=2011–13 |pages=1–33 |access-date=29 March 2015 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402102007/http://www.phytoneuron.net/PhytoN-CucurbConsistency.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> '''jam melon''',<ref name=Nesom/> '''stock melon''',<ref name=GRIN/> '''Kalahari melon'''<ref>{{cite journal|last=Vermaak|first=I|title=African seed oils of commercial importance – Cosmetic applications|journal=South African Journal of Botany|doi=10.1016/j.sajb.2011.07.003|volume=77|issue=4|pages=920–933|year=2011|doi-access=free|bibcode=2011SAJB...77..920V}}</ref> or '''tsamma melon''',<ref name=GRIN/> is a relative of the watermelon. It is from the family Cucurbitaceae which consists of various squashes, melons, and gourds. Native to arid landscapes of sub-Saharan Africa, it has been a wild source of nutrition and hydration for humans for an extraordinarily long time. Its fruit has a hard white flesh, rendering it less likely to be eaten raw in the modern era; more often it is pickled or used to make fruit preserves, and is used for cattle feed.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Laghetti, G. |author2=Hammer, K. |year=2007 |title=The Corsican citron melon (''Citrullus lanatus'' (Thunb.) Matsum. et Nakai subsp. ''lanatus'' var. ''citroides'' (Bailey) Mansf. ex Greb.) a traditional and neglected crop |journal=Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=913–916 |doi=10.1007/s10722-007-9220-y|bibcode=2007GRCEv..54..913L |s2cid=37535961 }}</ref> It is especially useful for fruit preserves, because it has a high pectin content.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/ml_citronz.html|title=Citron Melon|website=www.clovegarden.com|access-date=13 August 2024|archive-date=13 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240813214505/https://www.clovegarden.com/ingred/ml_citronz.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History and distribution== {{Unreferenced section|date=January 2021}} The citron melon is native to Africa, probably the Kalahari Desert, where it still grows abundantly. The time and place of its first domestication is unknown, but it appears to have been grown in ancient Egypt at least four thousand years ago.

It is grown as food in Africa, especially in dry or desert regions, including South Africa. In some areas, it is even used as a source of water during dry seasons.

In South Africa, it is commonly eaten by the Xhosa people as ''Intyabontyi'', a citron melon either eaten raw or cooked.

Today, it is not only found in Africa, but also domesticated elsewhere. It is known in the southern plains states of the United States as '''pie melon''', as well as citron melon.

It has become an invasive species, growing wild, in western Mexico.

== Characteristics == [[File:Citrullus lanatus var. citroides.JPG|thumb|left|alt=Wild tsamma melons|Tsamma melons in the Kalahari Desert]]

The actual fruit of this plant resembles the more modern, domesticated watermelons, except that it is smaller and more spheroid. The meat of the melon is more whitish and dense, though, and much stronger in flavor, akin more to the area on a domesticated watermelon where the red meat is just turning into the white rind. As noted above, while some people do eat it raw, it is more often cooked or prepared in some other way.<ref>{{Cite web |last=DEANE |date=31 August 2011 |title=Citron Melon, Tsamma |url=https://www.eattheweeds.com/citron-melons-abandoned-preserves-2/ |access-date=28 November 2022 |website=Eat The Weeds and other things, too |language=en-US |archive-date=28 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128223754/https://www.eattheweeds.com/citron-melons-abandoned-preserves-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Citron melon leaves are palmate in the early stages of growth, and deeply lobed in later development. They have a rough texture and a visible white venation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HS585/MV052: Citron—Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mansf. var. citroides (Bailey) Mansf. |url=https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/MV052 |access-date=28 November 2022 |website=edis.ifas.ufl.edu |language=en}}</ref>

Solitary flowers with large, yellow petals of around 2–10 millimeters are randomly dispersed forming many seeded fruit with a variegated light green and dark green pattern.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FW013 |title=Citron (Citron Melon), Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mats. & Nakai |access-date=12 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060310034155/http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FW013 |archive-date=10 March 2006 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Melons}} {{Taxonbar|from1=Q30557566|from2=Q92786704|from3=Q30160603|from4=Q50889631|from5=Q30530071|from6=Q30558078}}

Category:Melons Category:Fruits originating in Africa Category:Citrullus