The origin of watermelons
A popular fruit started off in Darfur
THE ORIGINS of some crops are well known. Maize derives from a wild grass growing in the Balsas river valley, in what is now Mexico. Rice descends from another grass, native to the Yangzi basin. Potatoes hail from the border between Peru and Bolivia. Apples trace back to the woodlands of southern Kazakhstan. Some crops’ beginnings, though, are lost in the mists of time—among them those of the watermelon.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Sweetness and light”
From the June 5th 2021 edition
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