On September 12 in Pingliang, Gansu Province, a woman working in her family’s watermelon field unexpectedly discovered two unusual “fusion melons.”

The upper half of the melons looked like watermelons, with clear alternating dark and light green stripes, while the lower half resembled winter melons, covered in a white powdery coating. The two characteristics blended seamlessly, appearing as if they were naturally one fruit.

The woman said there was no human intervention and in more than 10 years of growing watermelons, she had never seen anything like it.

Experts from the Academy of Agricultural Sciences suggested the “fusion melons” may have formed through natural grafting or genetic chimerism. If watermelon and winter melon vines are scratched during growth, their cells can sometimes fuse, creating a symbiotic fruit. However, the chance of this occurring is even lower than winning the lottery, as it requires very specific environmental conditions (such as vine injury and cell regeneration).

Although watermelon and winter melon are genetically related, differences in their genetic material cause distinct traits: watermelon’s stripes are determined by chromosomal arrangement, while the winter melon’s powdery skin comes from a different gene set. When gene chimerism occurs, traits from both may mix, producing such rare hybrids.