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

Merapi orchid (Vanda tricolor)

Merapi orchid ( Vanda tricolor ) is an endemic orchid species of Mount Merapi with flowers shaped like spiders, has three dominant colors in one petal are white, brownish red spots, and purple. V. tricolor is considered the most beautiful of the 70 species of orchid found at Merapi. Orchid Merapi is the queen of orchids from the slopes of Mount Merapi. V. tricolor and Dendrobium mutabile are extraordinary orchids where the two plants survive after being hit by the eruption of Mount Merapi in 2010. V. tricolor has a heat shock protein (HSP) that makes it heat resistant. V. tricolor can live in the lowlands up to 1,000 meters above sea level. Cultivation is very easy and only needs patience. The plant's height is around 15 centimeters at the age of two and continues to rise up to several meters. This Merapi orchid has a fragrant aroma, but only at 7.00-9.00 in the morning. Each tree can have dozens of flower stems that generally appear from October to September. Even so,...

Giant green leech (Raksasa hijau)

Lintah raksasa or giant green leech ( Raksasa hijau ) is a species of animal in Salifidae, large green leeches, carnivores, not hematophagic, can grow to lengths of more than 50 cm, the front is perfectly tubular, but it is getting bigger, wider and flat backward. R. hijau has a front end that ends with a white mouth and has a width equal to the diameter of the front end of the body. The rear end ends with the anus and has a width equal to the diameter of the rear end of the body. The upper surface is whole dark green or leafy green, looks shiny and has no other additional color features. The bottom surface is lighter or brownish green. The skin is wrinkled like tight, elastic joints that make it possible to lengthen the body. Giant green leech moves forward by extending the tip of the front of the body to keep the new location farther away and this movement is then followed by the middle body and gradually the rear where the body moves completely. R. hijau does not suck blo...

Javan broadhead planarian (Bipalium javanum)

Cacing palu or Javan broadhead planarian ( Bipalium javanum ) is a species of animal in Geoplanidae, hermaphrodite, living on the ground, predators, often called only hammerhead or broadhead or shovel worms because of wide heads and simple copulatory organs. B. javanum has a slim stature, up to 20 cm long, up to 0.5 cm wide, head wide up to 1 cm or less, small neck, widening in the middle and the back end is rounded, all black and shiny. Javan broadhead planarians walk above ground level by raising their heads and actively looking left, right and looking up using strong neck muscles. Move swiftly, track meander, climb to get through all obstacles or make a new path if the obstacle is too high. Cacing palu track and prey on earthworms and mollusks. They use muscles and sticky secretions to attach themselves to prey to lock in. The head and ends of the body are wrapped around and continue to close the body to stop prey reactions. They produce tetrodotoxins which are very strong...