View of North American cantaloupe melons, (muskmelon) ,growing in a green house in the gardens at Walmer Castle, Kent


Cantaloupe (also cantelope, cantaloup, muskmelon (India and the United States), mushmelon, rockmelon, sweet melon, honeydew, Persian melon, spanspek (South Africa), or Garmak گرمک) refers to a variety of Cucumis melo, a species in the family Cucurbitaceae. Cantaloupes range in weight from 500 g to 5 kg (1 to 10 lb). Originally, cantaloupe referred only to the non-netted, orange-fleshed melons of Europe.[citation needed] However, in more recent usage, it has come to mean any orange-fleshed melon (C. melo). Cantaloupe is the most popular variety of melon in the United States. The North American cantaloupe, common in the United States, Mexico, and in some parts of Canada, is actually a muskmelon, a different variety of Cucumis melo, and has a net-like (or reticulated) skin covering. It is a round melon with firm, orange, moderately sweet flesh and a thin, reticulated, light-brown rind.[6] Varieties with redder and yellower flesh exist, but are not common in the market


Size: 3588px × 3398px
Location: Walmer Castle, Kingsdown Road, Walmer, Deal, Kent, CT14 7LJ
Photo credit: © John Gaffen 2 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: american, cantaloupe, close-, cucumis, food, greenhouse, melo, melon, muskmelon, north, vine