Skip to main content

Muskmelon (Cucumis melo)

Melon or muskmelon (Cucumis melo) is a plant species, annual, spreading or propagating using a spiral-shaped holder, all or some parts have hair or no hair, has two subspecies with many varieties and cultivars, many are cultivated for fruit and seed harvest.

C. melo has a primary root 15-20 cm long from the base of the stem, while secondary and tertiary roots spread to 35-45 cm long. The stem is green, in the shape of a pentagon with hairs, segmented for the petiole and has 3-7 curves.

Dlium Muskmelon (Cucumis melo)


Green leaves, arranged alternately, five corners, 3-5 curves, 8-15 cm in diameter, some bones running as long stems, rough-haired surface. Muskmelon grows in how to climb using a twisting device that appears on each leaf armpit.

Flowers grow on the armpits of leaves with long flat stems and only consist of a flower crown and five stamens. Male flowers are formed in groups with 3-6 items. Female flowers appear on the branching segments in the first or second armpit of the leaf consisting of a crown, pistil and oval shaped ovaries with short, thick fruit stalks.

Female flowers will fall out if for 2-3 days are not pollinated. Fruit is round or oval or elongated. The skin has a thickness of 1-2 mm and is green or yellow or red or white. The epidermis layer is generally netted or prickly or hairy or smooth. The mesodermic layer is 1 mm thick.

Fruit flesh that is light green or yellow or orange. Among the cavities has a set of seeds wrapped in a placenta that is white, slimy, brown or white, 0.9 mm long, 0.4 mm in diameter and 500-600 seeds in each fruit.



Melons are widely cultivated and produce great diversity in fruit characteristics among cultivars. Sizes vary from 100g, 100-400g, 400g-1000g, 1-5 kg and 4-10 kg. Flat, ellipsoid, obovoid, round and very long. Skin color, contents, sweetness, acids, aromatic compounds and climacteric behavior also show high variability.

Muskmelon has two subspecies, Cucumis melo spp. melo with long-haired ovaries and Cucumis melo ssp. agrestis with short hair. Some cultivars include cantaloupe, galia, honeydew, Western shippers, Piel de Sapo and Christmas.

This plant has several varieties including chinensis, makuwa, momordica, conomon, acidulus, chate, flexuosus, tibish, adana, ameri, cantalupensis, chandalak, reticulatus, inodorus and widower.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Cucumis
Species: Cucumis melo
Subspecies: Cucumis melo spp. melo, Cucumis melo ssp. agrestis
Varieties: Chinensis, makuwa, momordica, conomon, acidulus, chate, flexuosus, tibish, adana, ameri, cantalupensis, chandalak, reticulatus, inodorus and widower

Popular Posts

Rose taro (Alocasia roseus) from Aceh, Indonesia, similar to Alocasia flemingiana and Alocasia arifolia

NEWS - Rose taro ( Alocasia roseus Asih & Yuzammi, sp. nov.) from Aceh Besar District, Sumatra (Indonesia) was found to produce a striking inflorescence and is morphologically similar to Alocasia flemingiana Yuzammi & A.Hay and Alocasia arifolia Hallier f. Alocasia (Schott) G.Don (Araceae Juss.) consists of 100 species, but recent studies suggest there may be 41 additional undescribed species. The genus is distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia from Malesia to Oceania and mainland Australia. Borneo is considered to have the richest Alocasia diversity and endemism. However, the diversity and distribution of Alocasia is poorly understood in the Indonesian archipelago with about 27 known species. Prior to this study, there were 7 species recognized in Sumatra. Knowledge of Alocasia in Sumatra is inadequate. The last taxonomic revision was conducted over 25 years ago which recognized 6 taxa of Sumatran Alocasia: Alocasia alba Schott, Alocasia arifolia , Alocasia inornata

Matthias Asmuss pitcairnia (Pitcairnia asmussii) from Venezuela similar to Pitcairnia xanthocalyx Mart. 1848

NEWS - Matthias Asmuss pitcairnia ( Pitcairnia asmussii Gouda spec. nov.) discovered by Matthias Asmuss from Caracas, Venezuela, and cultivated at the Utrecht Botanical Gardens is similar to Pitcairnia xanthocalyx Martius (1848), but with shorter flower stalks with larger sepals and petals, and dimorphic, non-petiolate leaves. Pitcairnia L’Heritier (1788) is a mostly terrestrial genus widespread from Mexico to Argentina with a total of 217 species and about 52 species known from Venezuela. In 2015 Matthias Asmuss from Caracas collected a new Pitcairnia from Aragua, Venezuela. The specimen is kept in the VEN herbarium, but due to the chaotic period in the country, it may have been lost, only the photo remains. At Utrecht Botanic Gardens, Eric Gouda obtained a young specimen from the collection in November 2018 and it flowered in May (2024). This living specimen is next to the type specimen used for the description. Pitcairnia asmussii is an acaulescent or short caulescent plant, flow

Namib desert petal-bush (Petalidium namibense), previously confused with P. englerianum, P. rossmannianum and P. variabile

NEWS - Namib desert petal-bush ( Petalidium namibense Swanepoel & A.E.van Wyk, sp. nov.), previously confused with Petalidium englerianum , Petalidium rossmannianum and Petalidium variabile was established as a new species with a restricted range in the southwest, west and northwest of Puros in the Kaokoveld Centre of Endemism, northwestern Namibia. Currently, 41 species of Petalidium Nees von Esenbeck (1832) have been described in Africa. The main centre of diversity for the genus is in northwest Namibia and adjacent southwest Angola. Namibia is home to 31 species, while 13 species have been recorded in Angola, 6 in South Africa, and 33 species have been recorded in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini and Lesotho. During several expeditions to the Puros region, Wessel Swanepoel discovered an unknown Petalidium characterized by a dwarf shrubby habit, many stems from below or above the ground, white flaking bark (corky on older stems), long dendritic trichomes and flowers i