melon

1. Any of several varieties of two related vines (Cucumis melo or Citrullus lanatus) widely cultivated for their edible fruit.
2. The fruit of any of these plants, having a hard rind and juicy flesh.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin mēlō, mēlōn-, short for Latin mēlopepō, from Greek mēlopepōn : mēlon, apple + pepōn, gourd.]

Gourds, sweet fruit of Cucurmis melo. A 200-g portion is a rich source of vitamin C (melons with orange or yellow flesh are a rich source of carotene); a source of vitamin B₆; provides 2 g of dietary fibre; supplies 45 kcal (190 kJ). The water melon is Citrullis vulgaris, jelly or horned melon is kiwano.

Hieroglyphics dating back to 2400 b.c. show that Egyptians knew the pleasures of these sweet, perfumy fruits even then. Melons belong to the gourd family, as do squash and pumpkin. There are two broad categories of edible melon, the muskmelon and the watermelon, each of which has many varieties.

For more information on melon, visit Britannica.com.

For other uses, see Melon (disambiguation).

A melon

Melon is a name given to various members of the Cucurbitaceae family with fleshy fruit. Melon can refer to either the plant or the fruit, which is a false berry. Many different cultivars have been produced, particularly of muskmelons. The plant grows as a vine. Although the melon is a fruit, some varieties may be considered "culinary vegetables".

Contents 1 Culinary vegetables 2 Culinary fruit 3 Oilseed sources 4 See also 5 References 6 Gallery 7 External links

Culinary vegetables

• Genus Momordica Bitter melon
• Genus Benincasa Winter melon

Culinary fruit

• Genus Citrullus - Watermelon
• Genus Cucumis
  • C. metuliferus - Horned melon
  • C. melo
    • C. melo cantalupensis. Skin that is rough and warty, not netted. European Cantaloupe and Algerian melon.
    • C. melo inodorus. Canary melon, Casaba, Kolkhoznitsa melon, Hami melon, Honeydew, Navajo Yellow, Piel de Sapo/Santa Claus, Sugar melon, tigger (tiger) melon, and Japanese melons.
    • C. melo reticulatus, true muskmelons, with netted skin. Examples include Bailan melon, , North American "cantaloupe", Galia, Ogen, Persian, Sharlyn melons.
    • Modern crossbred varieties, e.g. Crenshaw (Casaba X Persian), Crane (Japanese X N.A. cantaloupe)

Oilseed sources

• Cucumeropsis mannii

See also

• Melon baller
• Squash

References

• Mabberley, D.J. 1987. The Plant Book. A portable dictionary of the higher plants. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 706 pp. ISBN 0-521-34060-8.
• Magness, J.R., G.M. Markle, C.C. Compton. 1971. Food and feed crops of the United States. Interregional Research Project IR-4, IR Bul. 1 (Bul. 828 New Jersey Agr. Expt. Sta.).

Gallery

Melon	Melon, seed plant	Melon seeds	Yubari Melon intended as a high-priced gift
Slices of melon on a plate	North American "cantaloupes"	Honeydew melon

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cucumis melo

• Cucumis melo L. – Purdue University, Center for New Crops & Plant Products.
• Sorting Cucumis names – Multilingual multiscript plant name database
• The Cook's Thesaurus: Melons – List of photographed varieties of melons
• Growing Melons, Makings, Tips - A Grandfather’s Tenets – Melon Growing Guide at Agriculture Guide

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - melon

Nederlands (Dutch)
meloen, extra dividend, iets groots en ronds, (mv) borsten, deel van hoofd van dolfijnen etc., financiële meevaller

Français (French)
n. - melon

Deutsch (German)
n. - Melone

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (φυτολ.) πεπόνι

Italiano (Italian)
melone

Português (Portuguese)
n. - melão (m) (Bot.)

Русский (Russian)
дыня, дивиденд в форме бесплатных акций

Español (Spanish)
n. - melón

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - melon

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
瓜

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 瓜

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (과일의 일종) 멜론

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - メロン

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) شمام, بطيخ, كرش, شيئ مستدير كالبطيخ‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מלון, אבטיח צהוב‬

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