Have you seen a Watermelon gone Wild during your outdoor treks in Singapore? On my leisurely stroll in Punggol Park, I often spot these lovely wild creepers growing freely.
The Wild Watermelon goes by many other names; Love In A Mist, Wild Water Lemon & Stinking Passion Flower. This tropical, tendril climber originated from South America and is one of the hardiest member of the Passifloraceae family. It was first introduced into Malaysia more than 200 years ago and now grows wild throughout Malaysia & Singapore.
The whole plant has a rather unpleasant smell & leaves a waxy feeling on your fingers if you touch it. The flower bud & unripe fruit are enclosed in a basket formed from 3 finely subdivided bracts bearing sticky glandular hairs. The flowers are white, small and showy and look like passion fruit flowers. The unripe fruits look like tiny watermelons hence the name Wild-Watermelon. The young shoots can be cooked and eaten. The inside of the ripe fruit is a hollow, filled with soft, transparent, sweet pulp full of small black seeds. These are usually eaten by children and birds. The leaves of the plant do contain hydrocyanic acid and are poisonous.
Do you know the word passion in its name comes from priests who came with the Spaniards who colonised Central & South America. They were awed by the unusual form of the flower & saw in it a symbol of Christ’s “passion” and hence named it “flor passionis” or passionflower.
The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance. The tendrils represent the whips used in the flagellation of Christ. The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles excluding Peter the denier and Judas the betrayer). The flower's radial filaments represent the crown of thorns on Jesus head. The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail. The 3 stigmas represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by nails & one by the lance). The blue and white colors of many other species' flowers represent Heaven and Purity.
Look out for the Wild Watermelon the next time you are out in the outdoors of Singapore.
If this article on Singapore flora had stir up the botanical interest in you, check out my plant website specially written for nature lovers in Singapore and if you would like a plant recognition tour organised, this Kid ( Author) will be happy to oblige. Visit Know Your Dillenia website
