| MadSci Network: Botany |
Botanically, the edible part of a watermelon is a fruit, defined botanically as a ripened ovary. Watermelon also fits the popular definition of fruit as a sweet botanical fruit usually eaten as a dessert, snack or juice (Hershey 2005). Vegetable is not a botanical term. It is usually defined as a edible plant part other than those placed in other categories such as a popular fruit, popular nut or grain. Vegetables can be any plant part, including botanical fruits, flowers, seeds, leaves, stems and roots. The National Watermelon Promotion Board confirms that watermelon is classified as a vegetable. You might wish to contact them for further details. University publications for watermelon growers also list watermelon as a vegetable. One reason to classify watermelon as a vegetable is that it is grown from seed. All vegetables that I can think of are usually propagated by seed. If you want to buy watermelon seeds, you can find them in a seed catalog along with other vegetable seeds, such as tomato, lettuce, broccoli and pepper. Almost all popular fruits are propagated asexually by grafting, division, cuttings or tissue culture. Most fruit trees are grafted. Another good reason to classify watermelon as a vegetable is that it is an annual plant, requiring a single growing season. Popular fruit plants such as apple, peach, pear, strawberry, orange, grapefruit and banana are perennial crops that are grown for several to many years. Another reason to classify watermelon as a vegetable is the government. In 1893, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tomato was a vegetable for tariff purposes, even though a tomato is botanically a fruit. There seems to be a federal rule that in commerce, watermelon is considered a vegetable. The last website under references has watermelon statistics from the National Marketing Resource Center, which also classifies watermelon as a vegetable. It is correct to call watermelon a botanical fruit, a popular fruit or a vegetable. References Hershey, D.R. 2005. More misconceptions to avoid when teaching about plants. An ActionBioscience.org original article National Watermelon Promotion Board Fun Facts Oregon State University Vegetable Production Guide: Watermelon University of Florida: Handling Florida Vegetables: Watermelon 1893 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that tomato was a vegetable Watermelon statistics from National Marketing Resource Center
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