Cucumis melo

General distribution:

Melon, (Cucumis melo), trailing vine in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), grown for its often musky-scented edible fruit. The melon plant is native to central Asia, and its many cultivated varieties are widely grown in warm regions around the world. Most commercially important melons are sweet and eaten fresh, though some varieties can be made into preserves or pickled.

Map of distribution and habitat in USA

This plant is present in at least 36 states/provinces in this country.

See The Map

Botanical description:

Melons are frost-tender annuals with soft hairy trailing stems and clasping tendrils. They bear large round to lobed leaves and yellow unisexual flowers about 2.5 cm (1 inch) across. Botanically, the fruits are a type of berry known as a pepo, and they vary greatly in size, shape, surface texture, and flesh color and flavor, depending on the variety. They generally weigh 1–4 kg (2–9 pounds). Cantaloupes and netted melons are ripe when they give off a sweet fruity odor, at which time they “slip,” or break, readily at the union of fruit and stalk. Honeydews and casabas are ripe when they turn yellow, at which time they are cut from the vine. They are called the winter melons because they ripen late and mature slowly in storage for many weeks, becoming softer but not noticeably sweeter.

Seasonal development:

Good pollination is important for the number of fruits that are being produced and for the content of sugar that is contained within the melon. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that commercial plantings should have one beehive for every acre to assist with melon pollination.