Bailan melon
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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Bailan melon is a locally famous type of melon grown near Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province in the People's Republic of China.
According to Chinese sources, the melons were introduced to China by a Mr. Wallace, vice president of the United States, who donated melon seeds to the locals while visiting in the 1940s. This man was almost certainly Henry A. Wallace, vice president under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who had a background in agriculture and had founded a major seed company, Pioneer Hi-Bred.
In photographs, the melons appear light yellow, orange or white, with a light green or apricot yellow flesh. From the description, they appear similar to cantaloupe or honeydew melon, and may in fact be the same species.
