Watermelon

Sources differ on watermelon's origin: Flora of Pakistan describes it as native to the Kalahari region, and Flora of China to southern Africa. A genomic study published in 2022 presents evidence supporting a Northeast African progenitor, the sweet, white-fleshed Kordofan melon grown by farmers in Kordofan and Darfur, Sudan. According to the study, Egyptian iconography suggests dessert consumption of watermelon pulp by about 4,360 BP (before 1950).

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is an annual trailing or climbing plant of the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, monoecious (separate male and female flowers on one plant), and an important summer "water fruit".