[ **up: [[Plants]] | [[Agriculture and Food Production]] | [[Questions]]** ] --- # How long have melons been in Europe? ## Watermelons [[2024-0722. The hypothesis that watermelon descend from the South African citron melon came from a taxonomic mistake.|The hypothesis that watermelon descend from the South African citron melon came from a taxonomic mistake.]][^1] [[The Kordofan melon, from the Sudan, might be closest relative of domesticated watermelons.|The Kordofan melon, from the Sudan, might be closest relative of domesticated watermelons.]][^2] [[2024-0725. Watermelons were reported to be growing in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe, and America, in the late 1500s.|Watermelons were reported to be growing in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe, and America, in the late 1500s.]][^3] They didn’t look much like modern cultivar.[^4] --- ## Sweet Melons (*cucumis melo*) [[2024-0725. In antiquity, melons were mostly grown for their young fruit (which look and taste more like cucumbers).|In antiquity, melons were mostly grown for their young fruit (which look and taste more like cucumbers).]][^5] [[2024-0725. Sweet melons (Cucumis melo) were present in Central Asia in the mid-9th Century.|Sweet melons (Cucumis melo) were present in Central Asia in the mid-9th Century.]][^6] [[2024-0725. Sweet melons (Cucumis melo) were found in Khorasan and Persia by the mid-10th Century.|Sweet melons (Cucumis melo) were found in Khorasan and Persia by the mid-10th Century.]][^5] [[2024-0725. Sweet melons were being cultivated in Andalusia by the second half of the 11th Century.|Sweet melons were being cultivated in Andalusia by the second half of the 11th Century.]][^7] [^1]: Susanne S. Renner, et al., ‘A Chromosome-Level Genome of a Kordofan Melon Illuminates the Origin of Domesticated Watermelons’, *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* 118, no. 23 (8 June 2021): e2101486118. [^2]: Susanne S. Renner, et al., ‘A Chromosome-Level Genome of a Kordofan Melon Illuminates the Origin of Domesticated Watermelons’, *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* 118, no. 23 (8 June 2021): e2101486118. [^3]: Charles V. Hall, ‘Watermelons as food in the 21st century’, *Food security and vegetables: a global perspective*, ed. P. Nath et al (Bangalore, India : Dr. Prem Nath Agricultural Science Foundation, 2004), n.p. [^4]: Charles V. Hall, ‘Watermelons as food in the 21st century’, *Food security and vegetables: a global perspective*, ed. P. Nath et al (Bangalore, India : Dr. Prem Nath Agricultural Science Foundation, 2004), n.p. [^5]: Harry S. Paris, et al., ‘[[Paris, et al. ‘Medieval emergence of sweet melons, Cucumis melo (Cucurbitaceae)’, 2012.|Medieval emergence of sweet melons, Cucumis melo (Cucurbitaceae)]]’, *Annals of Botany* 110 (2012), p. 23. [^6]: Harry S. Paris, et al., ‘[[Paris, et al. ‘Medieval emergence of sweet melons, Cucumis melo (Cucurbitaceae)’, 2012.|Medieval emergence of sweet melons, Cucumis melo (Cucurbitaceae)]]’, *Annals of Botany* 110 (2012), p. 23. [^7]: Harry S. Paris, et al., ‘[[Paris, et al. ‘Medieval emergence of sweet melons, Cucumis melo (Cucurbitaceae)’, 2012.|Medieval emergence of sweet melons, Cucumis melo (Cucurbitaceae)]]’, *Annals of Botany* 110 (2012), p. 23.