Watermelon

The watermelon is an annual plant that has a prostrate or climbing habit, spreading out up to 2 metres (7 feet). The leaves are alternate, lobed (sometimes with serrated margins), 6 to 20 centimetres (2+1⁄2 to 8 inches) long, and 4 to 15 cm (1+1⁄2 to 6 in) wide. Young growth is densely woolly with yellowish-brown hairs which disappear as the plant ages. It has branching tendrils. The species is monoecious, with male and female flowers produced on the same plant. Blooming from July to August, the five-petaled flowers are white or yellow and borne on 40-millimetre-long (1+1⁄2 in) hairy stalks. Each flower grows singly in the leaf axils, with five petals fused into a cup. The male flowers predominate at the beginning of the season; the female flowers, which develop later, have inferior ovaries. The styles are united into a single column. The large fruit is a kind of modified berry called a pepo with a thick rind and fleshy center (mesocarp and endocarp). Wild plants have fruits up to 20 cm (8 in) in diameter, while cultivated varieties may exceed 60 cm (24 in). The rind of the fruit is mid- to dark green and usually mottled or striped, and the flesh, containing numerous seeds spread throughout the inside, can be red or pink (most commonly), orange, yellow, green or white. A bitter watermelon, C. …

Watermelon fruit is 91% water, 6% sugars, and has low content of fat and protein. In a reference amount of 100 grams (3+1⁄2 ounces), watermelon fruit supplies 127 kilojoules (30 kilocalories) of food energy, with no micronutrients in significant content (table). Watermelon pulp contains carotenoids, including lycopene. The amino acid citrulline is produced in watermelon rind.

Watermelons were originally cultivated for their high water content and stored to be eaten during dry seasons, as a source of both food and water. Early watermelons were not sweet, but bitter, with yellowish-white flesh. They were also difficult to open. The modern watermelon, which tastes sweeter and is easier to open, was developed over time through selective breeding. Dessert watermelons spread across the Mediterranean world during Roman antiquity and are mentioned with other sweet fruit in Hebrew texts of the 2nd and 6th century CE. In the 7th century CE, watermelons were being cultivated in India, and by the 10th century had reached China. The Moors introduced the fruit into the Iberian Peninsula, and there is evidence of it being cultivated in Córdoba in 961 and also in Seville in 1158. It spread northwards through southern Europe, perhaps limited in its advance by summer temperatures being insufficient for good yields. The fruit had begun appearing in European herbals by 1600, and was widely planted in Europe in the 17th century as a minor garden crop.

European colonists introduced the watermelon to the New World. Spanish settlers were growing it in Florida in 1576. It was being grown in Massachusetts by 1629, and by 1650 was being cultivated in Peru, Brazil and Panama. …

The watermelon and its emoji 🍉 are used as a symbol of Palestinian resistance, of the Kherson region in Ukraine, and of eco-socialism, as in 'green on the outside, red on the inside'. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in 2023, watermelon emojis have been more widely used on various social media platforms to show support for Palestine, to circumvent censorship and shadow banning on some platforms (a practice called "algospeak"), avoiding more overt symbols such as Palestinian flags. Because it is mostly water, the watermelon has been used to symbolize abrosexuality, a "fluid" or changing sexual orientation. In the US, the watermelon has also been used as a racist stereotype associated with African Americans. In Chinese culture, watermelons symbolise good fortune and happiness. They are gifted during the Lunar New Year and other festive occasions. They are also commonly eaten during summer as slices.