Wild Watermelons, photo University of Wisconsin.

Wild Watermelons, photo University of Wisconsin.

Citron Melons: Abandoned Preserves

Are they edible?

Even people who do not forage want to know if the little watermelons they see in citrus groves are edible. The short answer is no. The longer answer is yes.  What does that all mean? Well, that will take some explanation.

Tsamma melons (Citrullus ecirrhosus).

Tsamma melons (Citrullus ecirrhosus).

Usually non-bitter citron melons are used for preserves and are viewed by well-fed people as inedible raw. They are full of pectin so they are cooked up and used as jam and glaze and other sweet things. That said, in Africa, where folks are often not well-fed, melons are edible raw if they are not bitter. The tough pulp is pounded, the juice drank and the pulp eaten raw or cooked, preferably cooked.

So, if not bitter here in the American South it is viewed as something to be cooked for preserves and not edible raw. In dry, starving Africa if it is not bitter it is edible raw and cooked. What if it is bitter? If you have plenty of fuel and there is a famine you might be able to boil bitter melons in several changes of water and make them and their seeds edible. Starving people in Africa do that. The Beduins throw the entire melon onto the fire and cook it until it is totally dry. Then they grind it, make a paste out of it and smear it on a cloth, which they let dry. They don’t eat it but it will take a spark to light a fire.

By all rights, the bitter and the non-bitter ones should be two different species, Citrullus colocynthis and Citrullus lanatus var. citroides. But between the arguing of egotistical botanists, the multitude of names, and hybridizing, what a citrus grove watermelon is, is anyone’s guess. Let your taste guide you. Bitter bad, non-bitter useable at least in part.

Citrullus lanatus var. citroides is native to the Kalhari Desert in southwest Africa, so is the Citrullus colocynthisCitrullus lanatus been in use for thousands of years and in cultivation for at least 4,000 years. Called Tsamma it its native range it is believed to be the ancestor of our common garden watermelon, Citrullus lanatus. We know watermelons were grown in the Nile Valley by 2000 BC, in India by 800 AD,  China in 1100 AD. They were in Cordoba by 961 AD and Seville in 1158 AD. They came to the New World with the Spanish in the 1500s or so. Now the fruit is naturalized from North Carolina to California. Locally it is seen in current, old and built-over citrus groves. In fact, in several places where there are hundreds of acres of now freeze-dead citrus trees, the citron melon is still surviving.

Also called the “pie melon” the edibility of the melon varies greatly because it hybridizes with cultivated watermelons. While it always smells like a watermelon the white pulp is often too bitter to eat but can also be fine to eat. I have found some quite edible in the field with no cooking needed at all.  Generally said, the smaller it is the more likely it is to be bitter. “Round” tends to be wild, “oblong” showing some cultivated genes. Also don’t confuse the Citron Melon with the Seminole Pumpkin,  Cucurbita moschata, which is found in old Indian campsites. Those are quite edible. What do those look like? Like a squash or a pumpkin you would grow in your garden or buy in the supermarket.

There is, as one might expect,  a lot of botanical fog with the citron melon. You will often read the flesh is inedible but the rind is, or all of it is edible, or all of it is inedible. That can be for different reasons. Some times it is bitter and not edible, other times it is just  tough and can be pounded up and made edible if it is not bitter. Some call these fruits Citrullus lanatus var citroides, others Citrullus colocynthis. Some want to call it Citrullus colocynthis var citroides. The Citroides is considered to be in between the primitive bitter watermelon — colocynthis — and the cultivated sweet watermelon — lanatus. Regardless, if bitter leave it alone, though it can have medicinal applications.

Beside eating or preserving the non-bitter flesh, the seeds are edible as well. They can be dried or roasted or ground into a paste and made into a meal with many applications. The leaves and flowers can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Citron melon leaves are palmate in the early stages of growth, and deeply lobed in later. They have a rough texture and visible white veins. It has solitary flowers with large with yellow petals. Tendrils are to the side of the leaves. The seeds are greenish with a pitted surface, and leaning towards being a C. colocynthis. However, depending upon its heritage the seeds can also fall into two other groups,  “wléwlé” which has glossy seeds with a tapered end or “bebu” which are flat and oval with rugged and thick ends. Harvest fruit when the vine starts to die back.

The next question is why are these things found in citrus groves? The answer is the grove is abandoned or not well care for.  Essentially, the citron melon came first as a cultivated crop, citrus fruit came second. From a melon’s point of view a grove is a great place to escape too… food, water, sun and other weeds kept out.  But, the melon is host to a bug that bugs citrus and a kept grove does its best to get rid of the opportunist melon. Where I personally see them a lot is in a pasture of well-fed cattle and horses. That tells me the citron melon there are either bitter or the livestock too well fed to eat them as large mammals do in Africa. Very few people raise the citron melon now so it is naturalized from centuries past, a reminder of when most folks still grew most of their food. More so, the melon was a the prime source of pectic to make jelly out of the low pectin fruit, such as oranges.

Citrullus (SIT-rhull-us) is the diminutive of the Greek word citrus and means little citron. The Latin species name lanatus  (lan-NAY-tus) means wooly and calls attention to the hairs on the stems and leaves. Colocynthis (kol-OH-sinth-iss) if from the Greek word kolokunthis (round gourd, such as a pumpkin)

Lastly, let’s dispense with the idea that you will confuse a soccer ball sized watermelon fruit on the ground with a small citrus fruit in a tree, both called citron.  I have no idea why internet sites think you will ever get those two mixed up.

Recipes

Take some fine citron melons; pare, core, and cut them into long broad slices. Weigh them, and to every six pounds of melon allow six pounds of fine loaf-sugar; and the juice and yellow rind (pared off very thin) of four lemons; also, half a pound of race (root) ginger. Put the slices of melon into a preserving-kettle; cover them with strong alum water, and boil them half an hour, or longer, till they are quite clear and tender. Then drain them, lay them in a broad vessel of cold water, cover them and let them stand all night. Next morning, tie up the race ginger in a piece of thin muslin, and boil it in three pints of clear spring or pump water, till the water is highly flavored. Having broken up the sugar, put it into a clean preserving-kettle, and pour the ginger water over it. When the sugar is all melted, set it over the fire, add the lemon parings, and boil and skim it, till no more scum rises. Then take out the lemon peel, stir in the juice, and put in the citron slices. Boil them in the syrup till they are transparent and soft, but not till they break. When done, put the citron slices and syrup into a large tureen, set it in a dry, cool, dark place, and leave it uncovered for two or three days. Then put the slices carefully into wide-mouthed glass jars, and gently pour in the syrup. Lay inside the top of each jar a double white tissue paper cut exactly to fit, and close the jars carefully with corks and seal.

Preserved Citron

Pare off the outer skin, cut into halves, remove the seeds, then divide each half into a number of smaller pieces. Put them in a stone jar, add a half-cup of salt to every five pounds of citron. Cover with cold water, and stand aside for five hours ; then drain, and cover with fresh, cold water. Soak two hours, changing the water three or four times. Dissolve a teaspoonful of powdered alum in two quarts of boiling water, add the citron, and bring to boiling point. Drain. Make a syrup from two and a half pounds of granulated sugar and one and a half quarts of boiling water, boil and skim. When perfectly clear, put in the citron and simmer gently until you can pierce it with a straw. When tender, lift the pieces carefully with a skimmer, place them on a large plate, and stand in the sun one or two hours to harden. Peel the yellow rind from one large lemon, add it to the syrup, then add the juice of two lemons, and a small piece of green ginger-root cut in thin slices. Boil gently for ten minutes, and stand aside until wanted. When the citron has hardened, put it cold into the jars, bring the syrup again to a boil, and strain it over the citron. Watermelon rind and pumpkin may be preserved in the same manner.

Citron Preserves

Citron melons (about 5 pounds), 5 pounds of sugar, lemons.

Cut the citron in slices, peeling outer skin. Remove all visible seeds. Add sugar pound for pound to the citron. Cover and put in cold place overnight. The next morning bring the mixture to a slow boil. Add sliced lemons according to taste. Cook several hours until it becomes thick, clear and yellow. The longer it is cooked, the thicker and darker it will become. Therefore, if one prefers it thick and dark, rather than liquid and light yellow, it should be cooked for a longer period of time. Place in a stone crock or in sterile jars and stores in a cool place. This recipe keeps very well in storage. We still have several jars in our basement which are several years old. This recipe is excellent when used as a replacement for maple syrup on pancakes, waffles and the like.

Citron

11 lbs. of citron, 7 lbs. of sugar, peel and remove seeds. Cut up citron and sprinkle with sugar. Add 1 lemon, a stick of margarine, simmer until clear, then bring to a boil. Allow citron to stand over cinnamon and a dozen cloves. Pour into jars and cover.

Watermelon or Citron Preserves

* 10 lbs. melon rind

* 10 lbs. sugar

* 1 cup cinnamon bark

* 1/4 lb. ginger root

* 1/2 oz. alum

* 1/2 cup salt

* 7 quarts water

Instructions

1. Peel melon rind, cutting off green and pink, and cut in any shape desired.

2. Put rind into 1 gallon water, adding salt and alum and let stand until brittle.

3. Drain and put in vessel with enough water to cover.

4. Add ginger and cook until tender.

5. Make syrup of sugar water and cinnamon.

6. Drain the rind and add to the syrup with ginger.

7. Cook until syrup is thick, from 30-60 minutes.

8. Put in jars, let cool, cover with paraffin and seal.

 

Citron melon preserves:

3 quarts prepared citron melon

8 cups sugar, divided

2 quarts water

1 cup thinly sliced, seeded lemon

Cut the melon in half and remove meat and seeds. Then cut the rind in ¾ inch slices, removing the peel and discarding it. Cut the rind into 1-inch pieces. Remove the seeds from the meat and cut into about 1-inch pieces. Add 4 cups sugar to water and bring to a boil. Add citron chunks and cook rapidly until tender. Cover and let stand overnight.

The next day, add remaining sugar and lemon to mixture. Boil gently until melon is transparent and syrup is thickened. Stir frequently to avoid scorching. Remove from heat. Skim foam if desired. Ladle hot preserves into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch of headroom. Wipe jar rims clean and place hot, previously-simmered lid on jar and tighten ring down firmly. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner. If syrup becomes too thick, add a bit of boiling water; if it is too thin and the citron is cooked and tender, remove the citron and continue boiling syrup until thick, then re-add citron.

Green Deane’s “Itemized” Plant Profile

IDENTIFICATION: Looks like a round watermelon with jagged stripes, up to soccer ball size. Young leaves palmate, older leaves deeply lobed, rough texture, visible white veins, solitary flowers with large with yellow petals. Tendrils are to the side of the leaves. Seeds greenish, pitted surface, or glossy with tapered end or flat and oval.

TIME OF YEAR: Harvest fruit when the vine starts to die back.

ENVIRONMENT: Old groves, unattended margins of current groves, pastures, fields.

METHOD OF PREPARATION: If  not bitter, rind and flesh for preserving, if not bitter pulp can be pounded and eaten, raw or cooked, preferably cooked. If bitter, leave alone.  Young leaves if not bitter can be boiled like a green, the flowers, if not bitter, are edible cooked with pistils removed.

{ 33 comments… add one }
  • Jaclyn December 16, 2011, 10:40 am

    do these turn orange?? I have orange colored ones in my southeast texas yard….

    Reply
    • Green Deane December 16, 2011, 10:41 am

      Not that I know of.

      Reply
    • Ed Dillon August 26, 2014, 6:42 pm

      I have a full garden of them that start out green with the dark stripes, however turn orange prior to the stems drying out. Seeds are a like cucumbers in texture and taste and the flesh is firm like cantaloupe, however not sweet. Not bitter and can be eaten raw and I’m looking to try some of the pickling and cooking recipes for them soon.

      Reply
  • Robert Schroder January 11, 2012, 6:12 pm

    I am looking for a strain of watermelon, Citrulis lanatus var. citroides that is bitter. You mention that the round melons are bitter vs. the oblong ones are sweet. Is it possible to take the seeds from the round bitter melon, and produce only round bitter melons? I want to start a foundation seed source of the bitter melon to be used in an insect bait/repellent. Can you help me?

    Thanks,
    Robert

    Reply
    • Green Deane January 11, 2012, 10:17 pm

      I’m not sure how one can help. I mean even PhD botanists have a hard time figuring out which ones grow locallly.

      Reply
  • Dean gardner March 8, 2012, 3:13 pm

    I have a pasture full, I was also looking to find how to use as repellants. Horses never touched them!. Dean

    Reply
  • Karleen June 10, 2012, 5:42 am

    Found these today, the round ones, growing wild in pastures and alongside a road in South Australia. Very dense,lovely pulp with interesting seed pattern. The ones I found are two fists in size and many much smaller. Guess I won’t try to eat. None of the mammals around seem to eat them. Just rotting where they were growing.

    Reply
    • Robert Henry November 15, 2012, 5:03 am

      Hi Karleen
      Very interested to hear that the desert squash, Citrullus colocynthis is growing wild in South Australia.The seeds of this plant are highly acclaimed in The UAE as a cure for diabetes, and research is being carried out at the UAE University in Al-Ain, with very promising findings. I’d be interested in getting some seeds of this plant, if that is possible.
      Wonderful informative site. Fraternally Robert Henry

      Reply
      • Nick Fletcher August 26, 2014, 6:30 am

        Hi Robert, I have 100 acres of bitter melon, how much are the seeds worth per kg?

        Reply
  • Chaz Mikell August 16, 2012, 4:58 pm

    Hi Deanne,
    I grew up in the citrus belt of central Florida and citron melons were everywhere. They were originally planted back in the 30’s to 60’s by the grove owners because it was thought that the plant put nitrogen into the soil like many legumes such as cow peas do. My relations used to find small imature melons about the size of a medium grapefruit, peel the outer skin and after breading it in flour and cornmeal, fry the slices like eggplant or green tomatoes. Not as bitter as mature fruit and frying seemed to take remaining bitterness out. They also pickled and preserved rind.
    Chaz

    Reply
    • Janet July 31, 2015, 1:19 am

      Chaz, I bet they would be good fried like green tomatoes. I’ll have to try that, as well as the pickling recipes. The ginger and lemon in the above recipes sounds really good. I bet the preserves/syrup recipe is also good, and it could be adapted to make a sauce. Last year I tried some of the citron melons in our Central Florida fields and pastures, and they were good. They were not bitter. They are round and striped and pretty good size. In the 1990s through about 2004 we grew watermelons here. Could the citrons have hybridized with the melons?

      Reply
  • Gail Oakley September 16, 2012, 7:30 am

    My Grandmother used to make a marmalade using this melon, lemon rind and golden raisins. If anyone has this recipe…I would love to have it.

    Reply
  • Marsha March 27, 2013, 7:10 am

    For a recipe, see the second half of this post:
    http://mimithorisson.com/2012/11/03/all-you-need-is-thyme/

    I would love to have some seeds!

    Reply
  • Ilene June 1, 2013, 12:51 pm

    I also would love to have some seeds. I have been looking for some for years. My mother and father use to grow them on the farm when we were kids and mother always made a thick marmalade with it and preserves that we use to eat over homemade vanilla ice cream.

    Reply
  • Kathy October 15, 2013, 11:13 am

    The citron the websites think you will confuse with the citron melon is a citrus fruit that looks like a grapefruit that is grown in southern Europe and Asia. It is bitter and mainly used preserved like the citron melon. They can look really similar. Close up, they smell quite different.

    Reply
  • Josh Robinson October 20, 2013, 3:06 pm

    I was walking today 10/20 2013 and i found a citron melon and i pick it ,so i came back home and cut it open. I also taste it and it was not bitter so i save the seed out of it.to plant later next summer.

    Reply
  • Jodie November 11, 2013, 11:12 pm

    Hi all, i’m in west vic Australia, ive got some HUGE oblong, but just bland, like raw zuchinni till cooked up bright red beautiful but plentiful seeds, if anyone is interested in some seeds, email me at jodieperson@hotmail.com
    many a citron melon seed awaits… 😉

    Reply
  • K November 20, 2013, 12:07 am

    Grew some to be over 30 pounds this last year. They are oblong and taste like cucumber when raw. Can be made into “pumpkin” pie or used as soup stock/squash soup. I was told to eat them when small in stir fry is how they are used in China. (Originally got the seeds from a friend in China.) Seeds are plumped up white and/or black at maturity. The leaves are large and the vines are very capable of climbing and taking over other plants in the garden. We got about 50 squash from three plants this last year. Looking for other uses??? I am also trying to figure out what the plant actually is as it is not bitter and not sweet but very blah, mild, watery, and almost transparent. Assuming I found it here? Jodie – are the citron melons the same as the pie melon in Australia???

    Reply
    • Nancy Page March 25, 2017, 1:44 pm

      I am looking for seeds from citrons. They look like watermelons but we use the rinds to make preserves for fruit cakes. After my dad died the seed got threw out and we couldn’t find any more. If these are what you have I would like to get some. Thanks

      Reply
      • Dove Stackhouse November 7, 2020, 2:49 pm

        I am a seed saver, I grew out a lot of melons for seed but also want to preserve some. Could I trade seeds for a recipe?

        Reply
    • Sharon May 30, 2020, 4:31 pm

      Are you sure you’re not talking about winter melon in this case? I think it’s a different thing. There is at least a pumpkin shaped version and a bullet shaped version of winter melon. They are are huge and will last for months (which is why they were called winter melon…they work last till winter.).

      Reply
  • Mervyn Attwell December 6, 2013, 4:17 am

    I have a fantastic dish I make having been guided in stabilizing by Chilli Manufacturer in the North Western Australia who grows his chilli’s on old flooded; decayed & buried Forest Fields once held as the backbone of aboriginal culture. This Chille paste tops 10 on the Scoval Scale with ease and I have beeen wating to experiment with Melon (Green or Orange) pureed or cubed and coooked in the base of Apple Cider Vinegar and Spices. Is this advisible if so which one – I don’t want to include Ginger

    Reply
  • Andy February 6, 2014, 3:33 am

    I personally tried one in States… taste really good but can’t find such in Singapore… Have to settle for the lesser..

    Missed those days there…

    Regards
    Andy
    http://www.the-citron.sg

    Reply
  • eswari August 22, 2015, 3:51 am

    The ones I found in the middle of Borneo were stinky. I wonder if the ones I saw were citron melons?

    Reply
  • Shasta October 27, 2015, 10:11 pm

    We use citrons to make jelly. The ones here in East Texas are just right at this time, so I hope to make some jelly this week! Didn’t get around to it the last 2 years, so I think I’ll put up some extra this time.

    Reply
    • Marion October 28, 2015, 8:34 pm

      I have just gotten my first citron here in Virginia. Do you have a citron jelly recipe to share? Thanks

      Reply
  • Danetta Achilles March 12, 2016, 12:52 am

    I was looking for the difference in watermelon plants and pie melons [or jam melons] We make jam out of them in Queensland. Amber colour inside, not much taste and the outside of them look like watermelons.

    Reply
  • Jimmy May 13, 2018, 6:25 pm

    Raised on farm in South South Ga. 30 to 40 miles to Florida line. Citron would be in our corn fields etc. These were light green usually oblong a foot or so long & looked like a water Mellon. We would pull up vines & Citrons and several times trying to find a use would take & throw in pasture were we feed hogs. Hogs would not eat. So we never found a use for them. This was 50-60yrs ago.

    Reply
  • Sandra September 20, 2019, 8:00 pm

    Where can I get seeds for the cities that have white seeds?

    Reply
  • Sandra September 20, 2019, 8:01 pm

    Where can I get citron seeds for the citron melon with white seeds?

    Reply
  • benny sloan March 30, 2022, 5:27 pm

    My mom raised citron melons that looked like the melon at the very top of the page they were light green like a charleston gray watermelon, white on the inside with no strips the seed were black and they volunteered each year in our garden, mom has passed and so has the citrons, i would like to find some of these seeds can you help

    Reply
  • Andy B November 16, 2022, 1:34 am

    Even gardening websites get confused between the Citrus and the Citrullus. Take a look at https://www.walterreeves.com/food-gardening/citron-growing/?highlight=citron . They’re clearly talking about the melon, but the illustration (if they haven’t corrected it) is a citrus (although it looks more like a lemon than a citron to me).

    Reply

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