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

Black potato (Coleus rotundifolius)

Black potato ( Coleus rotundifolius ) is a species of plant in Lamiaceae, herbaceous, fibrous roots and tubers, erect and slightly creeping stems, quadrangular, thick, and slightly odorous. Single leaves, thick, membranous, opposite and alternate. Leaves are oval, dark green and shiny on the upper side, bright green on the lower side. Up to 5 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, slightly hairy and pinnate leaf veins. Leaf stalks up to 4 cm long. Small, purple flowers. Star-shaped petals, lip-shaped crown, dark to light purple with a slightly curved tube shape. Flowering from February-August. Small tubers, brown and white flesh and tuber length 2-4 cm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Nepetoideae Tribe: Ocimeae Subtribe: Plectranthinae Genus: Coleus Species: Coleus rotundifolius

Wild durian (Cullenia exarillata)

Wild durian ( Cullenia exarillata ) is a species of plant in the Malvaceae, a tall tree with smooth, greyish-white bark, peeling on older trees, a straight trunk, horizontal branches and often with a series of knob-like tubercles for flower and fruit attachment. C. exarillata has young branches and the underside of the leaves is covered with golden brown peltate or shield-like scales. The leaves are single, alternate, glabrous, glossy green on the upper side and covered with silvery or orange peltate scales on the underside. Hermaphroditic flowers are tubular and also covered with golden brown scales, 4-5 cm long and cream or reddish brown in color. Flowers have no petals, formed of tubular bracteoles and tubular calyxes, 5-lobed. Fruit is round, 10-13 cm in diameter, covered with thorns and clustered along the branches. Many seeds, reddish brown, 4-5 cm long and 2-3 cm wide. The seeds are enclosed by a fleshy, whitish aril. The fruit splits open when ripe and dries to release the s...

Thomas Sutikna lives with Homo floresiensis

BLOG - On October 28, 2004, a paper was published in Nature describing the dwarf hominin we know today as Homo floresiensis that has shocked the world. The report changed the geographical landscape of early humans that previously stated that the Pleistocene Asia was only represented by two species, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens . The report titled "A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia" written by Peter Brown and Mike J. Morwood from the University of New England with Thomas Sutikna, Raden Pandji Soejono, Jatmiko, E. Wahyu Saptomo and Rokus Awe Due from the National Archaeology Research Institute (ARKENAS), Indonesia, presents more diversity in the genus Homo. “Immediately, my fever vanished. I couldn’t sleep well that night. I couldn’t wait for sunrise. In the early morning we went to the site, and when we arrived in the cave, I didn’t say a thing because both my mind and heart couldn’t handle this incredible moment. I just went down...