Navajo Winter Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus)

Navajo Winter Watermelon (Citrullus Ianatus): In Italy, "winter watermelon" sometimes refers to lemon squash (Cucurbita citrullus), due to its shelf life rather than its growing season. In this case, it's a true watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), the most cold-resistant of the species. In fact, two harvests a year are possible in almost all Italian regions, partly due to its early ripening. It's also suitable for high-altitude cultivation, where growing other watermelons is extremely difficult without the aid of a greenhouse. It's also particularly tolerant to water stress (periods of lack of irrigation) and common watermelon diseases. Its thick rind allows for a long shelf life, and the pink flesh is sweet and crunchy. The plant isn't overly vigorous and isn't overly demanding on soil.

In 2017, an enthusiast contacted us, saying he recognized the watermelon his family had grown until the 1960s near Opi, Abruzzo, at about 1,000 meters above sea level. The family was the only one able to grow watermelons in the prohibitive temperatures of the mountains. He told us how, in his memories, they weren't very sweet (probably due to the climate and soil conditions) and how proud his grandmother was of this marvel. This episode sparked a search that led us to identify a contamination, likely from the early 1900s, between the Southeastern United States, the Native American territories, and an area between Lazio and Abruzzo. In addition to the Navajo watermelon, two types of beans have been reported to us, a Vulgaris and a Coccineus, the latter still in cultivation: this will allow us to make a genetic comparison with the samples requested from a Native American association, or rather from indigenous Amerindian people, which will arrive shortly and which we plan to analyze by Christmas.