Watermelon
From Halopedia, the Halo Wiki
|
This article is about the Real World. | 
|
| There is more information available on this subject at Watermelon on the English-language Wikipedia. |
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum & Nakai, family Cucurbitaceae) refers to both fruit and plant of a vine-like (climber and trailer) herb originally from southern Africa and one of the most common types of melon. This flowering plant produces a special type of fruit known by botanists as a pepo, which has a thick rind (exocarp) and fleshy center (mesocarp and endocarp); pepos are derived from an inferior ovary and are characteristic of the Cucurbitaceae. The watermelon fruit, loosely considered a type of melon (although not in the genus Cucumis), has a smooth exterior rind (green or yellow) and a juicy, sweet, usually red or yellow, but sometimes orange, interior flesh. The flesh consists of highly developed placental tissue within the fruit and much water. The former name Citrullus vulgaris (vulgaris meaning "common" — Shosteck, 1974), is now a synonym of the accepted scientific name for watermelon, Citrullus lanatus.
Since humanity's expansion into the Orion Arm, a variety of Earth-native plants and animals have been transplanted onto colonies to provide crops to supply the colony and others. Watermelons were a major export of Harvest before its destruction by the Covenant. The Harvest colony grew melons using transplanted seeds from Earth. A shipment of watermelons from Harvest to Madrigal aboard the freighter Horn of Plenty suffered a slipspace drive malfunction in 2524, fatefully placing it in range of a Covenant Jackal ship, which boarded the vessel, sampled some of the melons, and destroyed the ship, fatefully making it first contact between humans and Covenant species, sparking the Human-Covenant War.[1]
