Diversity of Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. (Cucurbitaceae) in the United Arab Emirates

Germplasm of Citrullus colocynthis in the United Arab Emirates was studied to find variation in it. Twenty five different accessions of the species were collected from various regions of the country. Eight morphological characteristics including fruit length, fruit diameter, number of seeds fruit-1, seed length, seed width, seed thickness, 100 seeds weight and seed weight fruit-1 were measured to ascertain diversity in it. The results show that a high level of heterogeneity exists within the C. colocynthis germplasm in the country.