Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai

Annual with long, procumbent, densely softly hairy stems. Petioles to c. 8 cm long, with dense, soft hairs. Lamina pinnatisect, often almost divided to midrib, to c. 15 × 13 cm, broad-ovate; lobes irregularly subdivided or toothed, hairy, blunt. Peduncles 1–3 cm long, densely hairy. Calyx lobed to 1/2 way or more, usually densely hairy; lobes narrow-lanceolate to linear. Corolla lobed nearly to base; lobes 12–16 × 8–12 mm, often unequal, ± elliptic, yellow with green raised veins, obtuse or mucronate. Ovary woolly at first, soon glabrate. Fr. subglobose to ± ellipsoid, becoming very large (to > 40 cm long in cultivation); rind green, hard; pulp red, sweet and very succulent. Seeds dark, shining.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

Flowering: Dec.–Mar.