How to distinguish melons and chestnuts

1. Blades

There are 5-11 leaflets in the gourd chestnut, which are oblong to obovate-oblong, with acuminate tip and cuneate base. They are hairless on the upper side and have fine hairs on the back and petiole. The middle leaflet is about 13-24 cm long. It is about 4.5-8 cm wide, with the outer leaflets gradually becoming smaller, the back side is raised, and the leaf surface has fine network veins.

2. Flowers

The flowers are solitary in the leaf axils at the top of the branches, with relatively thick pedicels, cup-shaped calyx, light yellow-green petals, narrow lanceolate to linear, with the upper part curled, anthers narrow linear, and style dark red. The flowering period is from May to November.

3. Fruit

The chestnut is a capsule, nearly pear-shaped, yellowish-brown in color, woody, with a thick peel that is hairless on the outside and covered with dense, long wool on the inside.