Watermelon

The watermelon is a species of flowering, scrambling and trailing vine in the gourd family, cultivated worldwide in tropical to temperate regions for its large edible fruit, which botanically is a berry called a pepo, with a firm rind and no internal divisions. Its flesh is usually deep red to pink and sweet and juicy, containing many seeds that are black when mature and white when immature, though seedless varieties also exist; the fruit is eaten raw or pickled, the rind is edible after cooking, and it is also consumed as juice or in mixed beverages. The modern watermelon was first domesticated and cultivated in Sudan, with the closest wild relatives, Kordofan melons, considered possible progenitors of today's cultivated varieties, and wild watermelon seeds have been found at the prehistoric site of Uan Muhuggiag in Libya.