Citrullus

Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly Cucurbita and Lagenaria. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Many gourds have large, bulbous bodies and long necks, such as Dipper Gourds, many variations of Bottle Gourd and caveman club gourds. One of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd, Lagenaria siceraria, have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC. Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film, and food.

A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to Cucumis melo, commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the plant and its fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The word melon derives from Latin melopepo, which is the latinization of the Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopepōn), meaning "melon", itself a compound of μῆλον (mēlon), "apple", treefruit " and πέπων (pepōn), amongst others "a kind of gourd or melon". Many different cultivars have been produced, particularly of the true melon, such as the cantaloupe and honeydew.

Momordica charantia is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit. Its many varieties differ substantially in the shape and bitterness of the fruit.

Citrullus colocynthis, with many common names including Abu Jahl's melon, colocynth, bitter apple, bitter cucumber, egusi, vine of Sodom, or wild gourd, is a poisonous desert viny plant native to the Mediterranean Basin and West Asia, especially the Levant, Turkey, and Nubia.

Egusi, also spelled egushi, are the protein-rich seeds of certain cucurbitaceous plants, which, after being dried and ground, are used as a major ingredient in West African cuisine. Egusi is a Yoruba word, and the popular method of cooking it is deeply rooted in Yoruba culinary traditions.

Momordica is a genus of about 60 species of annual or perennial climbers herbaceous or rarely small shrubs belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae, natives of tropical and subtropical Africa and Asia and Australia. Most species produce floral oils and are visited by specialist pollinators in the apid tribe Ctenoplectrini. A molecular phylogeny that includes all species is available.

Cucumis myriocarpus, the gooseberry cucumber, gooseberry gourd, paddy melon, mallee pear or prickly paddy melon, is a prostrate or climbing annual herb native to tropical and southern Africa. It has small, round, yellow-green or green-striped fruit with soft spines, small yellow flowers and deeply lobed, light green leaves. The melon occurs in disturbed soil and cleared or bare areas, and thrives on summer moisture.

The citron melon, also called fodder melon, preserving melon, red-seeded citron, jam melon, stock melon, Kalahari melon or tsamma melon, 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. It is especially useful for fruit preserves, because it has a high pectin content.

Citrullus ecirrhosus, commonly known as Namib tsamma, is a species of perennial desert vine in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, and a relative of the widely consumed watermelon. It can be found in both Namibia and the Cape Provinces of South Africa, in particular the Namib Desert. It is the sister species to the bitter melon, Citrullus amarus with which it shares hard, white and bitter flesh.

Melothria scabra, commonly known as the cucamelon, Mexican miniature watermelon, Mexican sour cucumber, Mexican sour gherkin, mouse melon, or pepquinos, is a species of flowering plant in the cucurbit family grown for its edible fruit. Its native range spans Mexico to Venezuela. Fruits are about the size of grapes and taste like cucumbers with a tinge of sourness. It may have been eaten by indigenous peoples before the European colonization of the Americas began.

Melothria sphaerocarpa is a species of melon native from southern Mexico and the Dominican Republic through Central America to tropical South America. It has been introduced to western tropical Africa, where has been known under the synonym Cucumeropsis mannii, and is grown for food and as a source of oil, more often for the seed oil than for the fruit.

Watermelon is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieties.

Cucumis melo, also known as melon, is a species of Cucumis that has been developed into many cultivated varieties. The fruit is a pepo. The flesh is either sweet or bland, with or without an aroma, and the rind can be smooth, ribbed, wrinkled, or netted. The species is sometimes referred to as muskmelon, but there is no consensus about the usage of this term, as it can also be used as a specific name for the musky netted-rind American cantaloupe, or as a generic name for any sweet-flesh variety such the inodorous smooth-rind honeydew melon.

Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) also known as Marrow mosaic virus, Melon mosaic virus, and until recently Watermelon mosaic virus type 2 (WMV-2), is a plant pathogenic virus that causes viral infection in many different plants. The virus itself is referred to as Watermelon Mosaic Virus II or WMV-2 and is an isolate of the U.S. WMV-2 is a ssRNA positive strand virus that is part of the Potyviridae or Potyvirus clade. Like all RNA viruses, it contains a protein capsid which protects the inner viral RNA. First described on squash in Florida, WMV arose from a unique recombination of genetic material contributed by Soybean mosaic virus (SMV) and Bean common mosaic virus (BCMV) along with Peanut Stripe virus (PSV).

Susanne Sabine Renner is a German botanist. Until October 2020, she was a professor of biology at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich as well as director of the Botanische Staatssammlung München and the Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg. Since January 2021, she lives in Saint Louis, where she is an Honorary Professor of Biology at Washington University and a Research Associate at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Melon necrotic spot virus (MNSV) is a virus that belongs to the genus Gammacarmovirus of the family Tombusviridae. It has been observed in several countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is considered to be an endemic virus in greenhouses and field productions of Cucurbitaceae crops, including melon, cucumber, and watermelon. MNSV is mainly spread through infected soil, seedlings, insects, and by the root-inhabiting fungus vector Olpidium bornovanus Symptoms vary between Curbitaceae crops, but generally consist of chlorosis, brown necrotic lesions, leaf wilt, fruit decay, and plant death. Management of the disease consists of preventing infection by rotating fields and crops, steam sterilization, and disposal of infected plants. Also, treated seeds with heat or chemicals are efficient in preventing infection. MNSV is important in melon plants as it causes vast economical damage worldwide reducing significant yields.