 The bitter wooly melon was formally described by Carl Peter Thunberg in 1794 and given the name "Momordica lanata".It was reassigned to the genus "Citrullus" in 1916 by Japanese botanists Jinzō Matsumura and Takenoshin Nakai.The watermelon is a flowering plant that originated in West Africa, where it can also be found growing in the wild."