Citron Melon
Citrullus amarus
Found in disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
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At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 1 Alabama county.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
16CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Citrullus
- Apantesis phylliraPhyllira Tiger Moth
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Colias eurythemeOrange Sulphur, Alfalfa Butterfly
- Diaphania hyalinataMelonworm Moth
- Diaphania nitidalisPickleworm Moth
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
- Mythimna unipunctaArmyworm Moth, White Speck
Show all 16
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Citrullus
- Corvus brachyrhynchosAmerican Crow
- Corvus cryptoleucusChihuahuan Raven
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Cucurbitaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications