Citrullus

Citrullus
Watermelon, Citrullus lanatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Subfamily:	Cucurbitoideae
Tribe:	Benincaseae
Subtribe:	Benincasinae
Genus:	Citrullus Schrad. ex Eckl. & Zeyh.
Species
Citrullus colocynthis Citrullus ecirrhosus Citrullus lanatus Citrullus naudinianus
Synonyms
Anguria Mill. Colocynthis Mill.

Citrullus is a genus of four species of desert vines, among which Citrullus lanatus (the watermelon) is an important crop. Recent molecular data, including sequences from the original collection of Citrullus lanatus, made by C. P. Thunberg in 1773, show that the plant originally dubbed Citrullus lanatus was not a watermelon, which the name now refers to, but instead a bitter melon, as implied by Thunberg's original description of the species.

Classifications of Citrullus

A = names approved by most authorities, s = approved as synonyms

Citroides group

• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. lanatus var. citroides (L.H. Bailey) Mansf. A -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai var. citroides (L.H. Bailey) Mansf. s -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. var. citroides L.H. Bailey s -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai

Colocynthis group

• Citrullus colocynthis Colocynth(L.) Schrad.

• Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. subsp. insipidus (Pang.) Fursa

• Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. subsp. stenotomus (Pang.) Fursa

Lanatus group

• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mansf., non Matsum. & Nakai, nom. illeg.
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai A
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. lanatus var. lanatus A -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus caffer Schrad. -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. mucosospermus Fursa
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. vulgaris (Schrad.) Fursa var. cordophanus (Ter-Avan) Fursa
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai var. caffer (Schrad.) Mansf. -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai var. fistulosus Duth. & Full. -> Praecitrullus fistulosus (Stocks) Pangalo
• Citrullus lanatus var. fistulosus (Steward) C. R. Babu -> Praecitrullus fistulosus (Stocks) Pangalo
• Citrullus lanatus var. fistulosus (Stocks) H. L. Chakravarty -> Praecitrullus fistulosus (Stocks) Pangalo
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai var. lanatus s -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus naudinianus (Sonder) J. D. Hooker s -> Anthosicyos naudinianus (Sonder) C. Jeffrey A
• Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai

Vulgaris group

• Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. var. lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus edulis Spach. -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. vulgaris (Schrad.) Fursa var. vulgaris A -> Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai

Other groups

• Citrullus ecirrhosus Cogn. s -> Colocynthis ecirrhosus (Cogn.) Chakrav. A
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. vulgaris (Schrad.) Fursa (Asian group)
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. vulgaris (Schrad.) Fursa (eastern group)
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. vulgaris (Schrad.) Fursa (Russian group)
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. vulgaris (Schrad.) Fursa (seedless group)
• Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai subsp. vulgaris (Schrad.) Fursa (seedy group)

References

Chomicki, G., and S. S. Renner. Watermelon origin solved with molecular phylogenetics including Linnaean material: Another example of museomics. New Phytologist, DOI: 10.1111/nph.13163 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.13163/abstract

Renner, S. S., G. Chomicki, and W. Greuter. 2014. Proposal to conserve the name Momordica lanata (Citrullus lanatus) (watermelon, Cucurbitaceae), with a conserved type, against Citrullus battich. Taxon 63(4): 941-942. http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/iapt/tax/2014/00000063/00000004/art00031

External links

• Sorting Plant Names: Citrullus

• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne