Citrullus amarus
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Full name: | Citrullus amarus Schrad. |
| Location: | Kyffhäuser (2416AD + 2416CB) |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Tsamma, Tsama, Karkoer, Bitterwaatlemoen |
| English common name(s): | Tsamma melon, Wild watermelon, Water melon |
| Synonym(s): | Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai Anguria citrullus Mill. Citrullus amarus Schrad. Citrullus anguria (Duchesne) H.Hara Citrullus aquosus Schur Citrullus battich Forssk. Citrullus caffer Schrad. Citrullus caffrorum Schrad. Citrullus chodospermus Falc. & Dunal Citrullus citrullus H.Karst. Citrullus citrullus Small Citrullus colocynthis var. capensis Alef. Citrullus colocynthis var. lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai Citrullus edulis Spach Citrullus edulis Pangalo [Illegitimate] Citrullus lanatus var. albidus (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus f. amarus (Schrad.) W.J.de Wilde & Duyfjes Citrullus lanatus var. caffer (Schrad.) Mansf. ex Fursa Citrullus lanatus var. caffrorum (Alef.) Fosberg Citrullus lanatus var. capensis (Alef.) Fursa Citrullus lanatus subsp. cordophanus Ter-Avan. Citrullus lanatus var. cordophanus (Ter-Avan.) Fursa Citrullus lanatus var. fistulosus (Steward) Babu Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus Citrullus lanatus var. minor (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus subsp. mucosospermus Fursa Citrullus lanatus f. nigroseminius (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus var. oblongus (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus var. pulcherrimus (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus var. pumilus (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus var. rotundus (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus var. senegalicus Fursa Citrullus lanatus var. shami (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus var. variegatus (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus var. virgatus (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus lanatus var. viridis (Chakrav.) Maheshw. Citrullus mucosospermus (Fursa) Fursa Citrullus mucosospermus var. senegalicus (Fursa) Fursa Citrullus pasteca Sageret Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. Citrullus vulgaris var. caffrorum Alef. Citrullus vulgaris var. fistulosus Steward Colocynthis amarissima Schrad. [Invalid] Colocynthis amarissima Schltdl. Colocynthis citrullus (L.) Kuntze Colocynthis citrullus Fritsch Cucumis amarissimus Schrad. Cucumis citrullus (L.) Ser. Cucumis citrullus var. jace Ser. Cucumis citrullus var. pasteca Ser. Cucumis dissectus Decne. Cucumis edulis Steud. [Invalid] Cucumis laciniosus Eckl. ex Steud. Cucumis laciniosus Eckl. ex Schrad. Cucumis vulgaris (Schrad.) E.H.L.Krause Cucurbita anguria Duchesne Cucurbita caffra Eckl. & Zeyh. Cucurbita citrullus L. Cucurbita gigantea Salisb. Cucurbita pinnatifida Schrank Momordica lanata Thunb. |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Annual herb. Stems prostrate or scandent to 10 m, villous, glabrescent. Tendrils 2–3-fid. Leaf-lamina 5–20 x 3.5–19 cm, ovate or narrowly ovate in outline, cordate, hairy (especially on the veins beneath), becoming scabrid-punctate, usually deeply palmately 3–5-lobed, the lobes elliptic in outline, shallowly to usually deeply pinnately lobulate, subentire or obscurely sinuate-denticulate, rounded to subacute, apiculate, the central much the largest. Petioles 2–18.5 cm long, hairy or villous, sometimes scabrescent. Probracts 4–18 mm long, obovate-spathulate. Male flowers on villous 12–45 mm long pedicels; receptacle-tube 2.5–5 mm long, pale green, lobes 2.5–5 mm long, lanceolate. Petals 0.7–1.9 x 0.4–1.4 cm, obovate, rounded, apiculate. Female flowers on 3–45 mm long pedicels; ovary 6–15 x 4–8 mm, ellipsoid or subglobose, villous; receptacle-tube 1.5–2 mm long, lobes 2.5–5.5 mm long; corolla as in male flowers. Fruit of wild plants 1.5–20 cm in diameter, subglobose, greenish mottled with darker green, of cultivated plants up to 60 x 30 cm, subglobose or ellipsoid, green or yellowish, concolorous or variously mottled or striped; fruit-stalk 2–5 cm long. Seeds c. 9–11 x 5–6 x 2.5–2.7 mm, ovate-elliptic in outline, smooth or slightly verrucose, dark or pale coloured, often mottled, sometimes bordered. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Zambesiaca) Annual climber or trailer to 3 m; stems herbaceous, rather softly long-hairy. Leaf-blade ovate or elongated-ovate in outline, long-hairy on the nerves especially beneath, otherwise smooth, becoming scabrid-punctate especially beneath, membranous, 58–202 mm long, 36–190 mm broad, usually palmately deeply 3–5(–7)-lobed; lobes elongated-ovate in outline, pinnately sinuate-lobulate, rarely subentire, shallowly and obscurely sinuate-toothed, with the central lobe much the largest, obtuse to emarginate and apiculate; petiole long-hairy, 21–140 mm long. Tendrils bifid, rarely simple or (in extra-African forms) 3–4-fid. Probract obovate-spathulate, hooded, 4–8 mm long. Male flowers on 12–40 mm long pedicels; receptacle-tube pale green, 3–4 mm long; lobes lanceolate, 3–5 mm long; petals yellow, 7–16 mm long and 5–10 mm broad, united below. Female flowers on 3–35 mm long pedicels; ovary ellipsoid or subglobose, hairy, 6–12 mm long, 5–8 mm across; receptacle-tube 1.5–2 mm long, lobes 3.5–4 mm long; petals ±11 mm long and 5 mm broad. Fruit on a 20–40 mm long stalk, ellipsoid or subspherical, 130–300 mm or more in diameter, hairy, green mottled with paler green or yellowish in irregular longitudinal stripes or concolorous, terete or slightly ribbed, firm-walled, fleshy, indehiscent. Seeds ovate in outline, ±10 x 5 x 2.5 mm, sometimes smaller or more often rather larger, smooth or slightly verrucose, not or sometimes distinctly bordered. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Tropical East Africa) Annual usually trailing herb. Leaf-blade ovate or narrowly ovate in outline, rather villous especially on veins beneath, scabrid-punctate when old, 5–20 x 3.5–19 cm, usually deeply palmately 3–5-lobed, the lobes usually deeply pinnately lobulate; petioles 2–18.5 cm long, villous. Tendrils usually bifid. Male flowers solitary. Pedicel 14–45 mm long. Hypanthium broadly obconic, 2.5–5 mm long. Sepals lanceolate, 2.5–5.5 mm long. Petals yellow, obovate, 7–19 mm long. Female flowers solitary. Pedicel 3–45 mm long. Ovary ellipsoid to subglobose, villous, 6–15 mm long. Hypanthium 1.5–2 mm long. Perianth as in male flowers. Fruit subglobose to ellipsoid, green or yellowish, often mottled or striped, up to 60 x 30 cm. Flesh white or red, watery, usually not bitter. Pedicel 2–5 cm long. Seeds ovate in outline, variously coloured, sometimes mottled, smooth or slightly rough, 9–11 x 5–6 x 2.5–2.7 mm. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Somalia) Annual herb with prostrate of climbing stems up to 10 m long, covered in long spreading hairs, particularly when young. Tendrils 2-3-fid. Leaves more or less narrowly ovate in outline, up to 20 × 19 cm, usually deeply palmately 3-5 lobed with lobes elliptic in outline and often lobed again; hairy when young, particularly on the veins beneath, becoming roughly punctate when older; margins almost entire or obscurely and finely sinuate-dentate. Flowers solitary, axillary, yellow, unisexual on the same plant. Fruit smooth, in wild plants 1.5-20 cm long, greenish with darker mottling; cultivated fruits much larger and often more elongated ellipsoid, up to 60 × 30 cm. (from Flora of Zimbabwe website) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Photographer: | AA Dreyer |
| Date of photograph: | 23 Mar 2008 |
| Camera make: | Canon |
| Camera model: | PowerShot A700 |
| Lens aperture: | f/4.0 |
| Shutter speed: | 1/640 s |
| ISO speed: | - |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
