Watermelon or Citrullus lanatus is a plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae which is a vine-like scrambler and trailer sort flowering plant originating in West Africa. It is mainly cultivated for its fruit. The subdivision of this species into two varieties, watermelons which is scientifically referred to as Citrullus lanatus Thunb of variety lanatus and citron melons called Citrullus lanatus of variety citroides originated with the erroneous synonymization of Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum and Nakai and Citrullus vulgaris Schrad by L.H. Bailey in 1930. Molecular data including sequences from the original collection of Thunberg and other relevant type material show that the sweet watermelon that is Citrullus vulgaris Schrad and the bitter wooly melon, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai have no close relation. .
Since 1930, the name Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. and Nakai for the watermelon has been misapplied in many papers and even a proposal to conserve the name with this meaning was accepted by the relevant nomenclatural committee and was also confirmed at the International Botanical Congress in 2019 in Shenzhen in China. The bitter South African melon first collected by Thunberg has become naturalized in semiarid regions of several continents and has been designated as a pest plant in parts of Western Australia where they are referred to as pig melon.
In this sub category you can download free PNG images: Watermelon Fruits. In this category "Watermelon" we have 46 free PNG images with transparent background.