The cantaloupe is a type of true melon with sweet, aromatic, and usually orange flesh. Originally, cantaloupe refers to the true cantaloupe or European cantaloupe with non- to slightly netted and often ribbed rind. Today, it also refers to the muskmelon with strongly netted rind, which is called cantaloupe in North America, rockmelon in Australia and New Zealand, and spanspek in Southern Africa. Cantaloupes range in mass from 0.5 to 5 kilograms.
The cucumber is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables. Considered an annual plant, there are three main types of cucumber—slicing, pickling, and seedless—within which several cultivars have been created. The cucumber originates in Asia extending from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, and Northern Thailand, but now grows on most continents, and many different types of cucumber are grown commercially and traded on the global market. In North America, the term wild cucumber refers to plants in the genera Echinocystis and Marah, though the two are not closely related.
A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to Cucumis melo, commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the plant and its fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The word melon derives from Latin melopepo, which is the latinization of the Greek μηλοπέπων (mēlopepōn), meaning "melon", itself a compound of μῆλον (mēlon), "apple", treefruit " and πέπων (pepōn), amongst others "a kind of gourd or melon". Many different cultivars have been produced, particularly of the true melon, such as the cantaloupe and honeydew.
The Galia melon, also known as sarda in Southeast Asia, is a type of F1 hybrid melon (Cucumis melo) originating from a cross between the green-flesh cantaloupe (Cantalupensis Group) 'Ha'Ogen' and the netted-rind early melon (Chandalak Group) 'Krymka' (sometimes as 'Krimka'). Developed in Israel at the Ne´ve Yaar Research Center of the Agricultural Research Organisation by the melon breeder Dr. Zvi Karchi, and released in 1973, the Galia melon was named after Karchi's daughter, whose name means "God's wave" in Hebrew.
The Montreal melon, also known as the Montreal market muskmelon or the Montreal nutmeg melon, is a type of melon traditionally grown in the area around Montreal, Canada. It was popularised by the seed merchant W. Atlee Burpee starting in 1881 but later disappeared from large-scale cultivation. It was rediscovered in 1996 in a seed bank in Iowa.
Cucumis is a genus of twining, tendril-bearing plants in the family Cucurbitaceae which includes the cucumber, true melons, the horned melon, and the West Indian gherkin.
The Armenian cucumber, Cucumis melo Flexuosus Group or Cucumis melo var. flexuosus, is a type of long, slender fruit which tastes like a cucumber and looks somewhat like a cucumber inside. It is actually a variety of true melon, a species closely related to the cucumber. It is also known as the yard-long cucumber, snake cucumber, snake melon, Varunk in Armenian, chanbar in Persian, sheng in Semnani, chirimenhosonagauri in Japanese, acur in Turkish, kakadee in Hindi, tar in Punjabi, قثاء in Arabic, commarella or tortarello in Italian. It should not be confused with the snake gourds. The skin is very thin, light green, and bumpless. It has no bitterness and the fruit is almost always used without peeling. It is also sometimes called a gutah.
The honeydew melon is one of the two main cultivar types in Cucumis melo Inodorus Group. It is characterized by the smooth, often green or yellowish rind and lack of musky odor. The other main type in the Inodorus Group is the wrinkle-rind casaba melon.
Hami melon is an umbrella term for sweet melon varieties from Xinjiang, China, especially from Hami. This fruit is also referred to as the Chinese Hami melon or the snow melon. The outer color is generally white through pink or yellow through green. The inside flesh is sweet and crisp.
Didymella bryoniae, syn. Mycosphaerella melonis, is an ascomycete fungal plant pathogen that causes gummy stem blight on the family Cucurbitaceae, which includes cantaloupe, cucumber, muskmelon and watermelon plants. The anamorph/asexual stage for this fungus is called Phoma cucurbitacearum. When this pathogen infects the fruit of cucurbits it is called black rot.
The Santa Claus melon, sometimes known as Christmas melon or Piel de Sapo, is a variety of melon originating in Spain that grows to about a foot in length and is ovoid in shape. It has a thick, green-striped outer rind and pale green to white inner flesh with a mild melon flavour and sweetness close to honeydew melons.
The Jenny Lind melon is an heirloom cantaloupe first introduced in the 1840s. Unlike most other types of cantaloupe, its flesh is light green, rather than orange. A typical fruit weights between one and two pounds, and has a distinct knob, often known as a turban, on one end.
The Yubari King is a cantaloupe cultivar farmed in greenhouses in Yūbari, Hokkaido, a small city close to Sapporo.
Watermelon is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieties.
Kil'ayim are the prohibitions in Jewish law which proscribe the planting of certain mixtures of seeds, grafting, the mixing of plants in vineyards, the crossbreeding of animals, the formation of a team in which different kinds of animals work together, and the mixing of wool with linen in garments.
A Charentais melon is a type of French cantaloupe, Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis.
The oriental melon is a group of Cucumis melo cultivars that are produced in East Asia. Phylogenetic studies tracing the genetic lineage of the plant suggest that it may have originated in eastern India, having then spread to China over the Silk Road, from which it was introduced to Korea and Japan. Its flavour has been described as a cross between a honeydew melon and a cucumber. It is noticeably less sweet than Western varieties of melon, and consists of about 90% water. The fruits are commonly eaten fresh; with its thin rind and small seeds, the melon can be eaten whole.
Melon necrotic spot virus (MNSV) is a virus that belongs to the genus Gammacarmovirus of the family Tombusviridae. It has been observed in several countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe. It is considered to be an endemic virus in greenhouses and field productions of Cucurbitaceae crops, including melon, cucumber, and watermelon. MNSV is mainly spread through infected soil, seedlings, insects, and by the root-inhabiting fungus vector Olpidium bornovanus Symptoms vary between Curbitaceae crops, but generally consist of chlorosis, brown necrotic lesions, leaf wilt, fruit decay, and plant death. Management of the disease consists of preventing infection by rotating fields and crops, steam sterilization, and disposal of infected plants. Also, treated seeds with heat or chemicals are efficient in preventing infection. MNSV is important in melon plants as it causes vast economical damage worldwide reducing significant yields.
The carosello is a landrace variety of melon found in Southern Italy. It is common in the Apulia region of Italy.
The kolkhoznitsa melon, also known as the collective farm woman melon, is a melon in the genus Cucumis native to Russia and introduced to the United States in 1993.
