Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report 3:38 (article 21) 1980
An Additional Seed Length Class in Watermelon
B. B. Rhodes
Edisto Experiment Station, Blackville,
SC 29817
Poole, Grimball and Porter (1) reported digenic control
of seed length in watermelon. A ratio of 9 medium (10 mm
mean length): 3 long (13 mm mean length) : 4 short (6
mm mean length) was reported. The range of seed lengths
for the short parents was 4.5-7.5 mm, the range for the
medium parents was 7.5-11.5 mm, and the range for the long
parents was 11.5 to 16.5. A small-seeded melon was obtained
from the USDA Vegetable Lab in Charleston labeled W 941
with an apparent origin in Hungary or Romania.
The mean
length of seed for the 'Coconut Melon' was 3.8 mm; the seed
length of selected watermelon varieties is given in Table
1. Of the varieties measured, a difference of 0.7 mm existed
between 'Sunshade' and 'Chris Cross' seed and a difference
of 1.8 mm between 'Sugar Bush' and 'Market Midget' seed.
The gap between 'Sugar Baby' and 'Coconut Melon' was 3.2
mm. 'Coconut Melon' was 2.2 mm shorter than the mean for
the short-seeded variety used by Poole et al. (1). The seed length class of 'Coconut Melon' has remained constant
for three generations.
Table 1. Seed length of watermelon cultivars.z
z Ten seeds were measured with vernier calipers to the nearest half mm.
Literature Cited
- Poole, C. F., P. C. Grimball and D. R. Porter. 1941.
Inheritance of seed characters in water melon. J.
Agr. Res. 63: 433-456.
