Citrullus vulgaris -Shrad.-
watermelon


Entry Type: Species

Species Name: Citrullus vulgaris -Shrad.-

Common Name: watermelon

Myaamia Name: iihkhtaminki

Description:

Harvest Seasons: Fall, Spring

Harvest Comments:

Habitats: Human-Disturbed Areas

Uses: Food, Medicinal

Locations: Undetermined

Sources

Gatschet, A.S. 1904

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

"iktamíngi - watermelon", literally meaning "raw food eaten without cooking".

Comments: N/A

Pease, T. C. and R. C. Werner 1934

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

"They harvest also a great many watermelons which are admirable. I have seen numbers of them as big as water buckets (Elles recueillent aussi quantite de melons d'eau qui sont admirables j'en ay vu quantite d'aussi gros qu'un seau)".

Comments: N/A

Thwaites, R.G. (ed.) 1903

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

"They greatly esteem their citruls, though they are none of the best. They dry them up, and keep them till the Winter and Spring".

Comments: N/A

Thwaites, R.G. (ed.) 1903

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

"They have abundance of water-melons, citruls, and gourds".

Comments: N/A

Thwaites, R.G. (ed.) 1966

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

Watermelons were given to Marquette and Joliet's party to eat. "We ate no other fruit there than watermelons" ("nous n'y avons pas mange de fruictz que des melons d'eau)".

Comments: N/A

Pease, T. C. and R. C. Werner 1934

Reference Type: Use - Medicinal

Archival Data:

Seeds used for medicine. "Their medicines they use for purging have all the effectiveness possible. There are some who use coloquinte, with which the wilderness abounds in autumn when they gather their seeds." ("Celles don’t ils se servent pour purger font tout l'effet possible. Il y a qui se servent de Coloquinte don’t les deserts sont pleins L'automne, quand ils ont cueillis leurs grains").

Comments: N/A

Kenton, E. 1925

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

Watermelon was given to the missionaries to eat.

Comments: N/A

Kellogg, L.P. 1923

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

Watermelons were cultivated.

Comments: N/A

Kellogg, L.P. 1923

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

Watermelons, along with sunflowers and gourds are first sprouted in a hot-bed and then transplanted into crop fields.

Comments: N/A

Gatschet, A.S. ca. 1895

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

In the traditional story of Young Thunder William Pecongah, he describes the crops, including C. vulgaris, growing on his land 160 acres of reserve in central Indiana. "There I planted corn, wheat, potatoes, peas, tobacco, beans, apple trees, pumpkins, watermelons, cucumbers, onions, hay, straw, gooseberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, turnips, tomatoes, pawpaws, cherries, strawberries, plums, blackhaws, peaches, walnut trees, pecans, hickory nuts, barley and rye."

Comments: N/A

Dunn, J.P. ca. 1900

Reference Type: Use - Food

Archival Data:

Watermelon is eaten raw.

Comments: N/A

Hickman. J.C. 1993

Reference Type: Habitat

Archival Data :

This species is also known as C. colocynthis, hence coloquinte. C. vulgaris is a native to Africa cultivated throughout eastern and western Myaamia lands.

Comments: N/A

Anonymous 1837

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

Watermelon is mentioned in this work.

Comments: N/A

Steyermark, J.A. 1963

Reference Type: Related Info

Archival Data:

There is no listing of Citrullus in Gleason and Cronquist 1991 nor in Deam 1940, but Steyermark lists this species as C. vulgaris and Small 1903 as C. citrullus.

Comments: N/A

Legends

  • L.: L. stands for Carl Linneaus, a Swedish botanist and zoologist living from 1707 - 1778, who formed the binomial nomenclature system for scientific naming of species (the two part name). His initial after a scientific name indicates he was the authority for that species name.
  • sp.: Indicates the actual species name cannot or need not be specified. Example: Lilium sp. indicates a single species in the genus Lilium that is not known or does not need to be specified.
  • spp.: (plural) indicates "several species", two or more species of the given genus. Example: Lilium spp. indicates 2 or more species in the genus that cannot or do not need to be distinguished.
  • Use - Unknown: A record for this plant exists but does not include explicit information about the plant's cultural use. It is probable the Myaamia used the plant.
  • Botanical Sources: Sources of any botanical data for this plant species that is not related to its cultural use or significance.
  • Related Sources: Data indirectly related to Myaamia ethnobotany, including non-Myaamia uses of the plant in contemporary and historic times.
  • Myaamia Archival Sources: All records of plant use obtained directly from a Myaamia tribal member in an interview, recorded by a second party or by self-recording.
  • Undetermined (Plant Use): There exists use or other information about a certain, unknown plant species, but the specific species has not yet been determined.
  • Medicinal: For the purposes of this database, medicinal uses of plants and medicinal knowledge are defined as: Commonly held communal knowledge regarding the use of plant-based substances that aid in maintaining a healthy mind, body or spirit, including tonics and teas.
  • Technology: For the purposes of this database, technological uses of plants are defined as: Plants used in the making of food processing, canoes, rafts, dyes, tools, utensils, weapons, hunting and fishing gear (i.e. net, weir, etc.), cordage, string, rope, fodder plant species, firewood, any plants used in trade, etc.
  • Material: For the purposes of this database, material uses of plants are defined as: Plants used in construction of dwellings (floor mats, roofing, side walls), furniture, baskets, storage items, musical instruments, games, crafts, jewelry, cordage used in crafts, etc.
  • Food: For the purposes of this database, food uses of plants are defined as: Plants used as consumed food, spices and seasonings, but not teas or tonics.
  • Customs: For the purposes of this database, customary uses of plants are defined as: Plants involved in a customary ceremony, ritual or traditional event, including ritual smoking, chewing tobacco, war rituals, special mats used to sit on during ceremonies. Customary uses of plants, in this database, does not including plants used for recreation (material), structures where ceremonies take place (material) or medicinal smoking (medicinal).
  • Eastern Myaamia Lands: Eastern Myaamia lands (eastern myaamionki) are centered around northern Indiana, and including western Ohio, eastern Illinois, southern Michigan, and the northernmost portions of Kentucky.
  • Western Myaamia Lands: Western Myaamia lands (western myaamionki) include western Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma.