Cucumis melo – description, flowering period and general distribution in Georgia. creeping melon stems with delicate yellow flowers

Cucumis melo – description, flowering period and general distribution in Georgia. small fruit among large leaves

Cucumis melo – description, flowering period and general distribution in Georgia. singing fruit - pumpkin

Cucumis melo – description, flowering period and general distribution in Georgia. large ripe fruit on the ground

Scientific name:

Cucumis melo

Common name(s):

Cantaloupe, Rockmelon, Sweet melon, Spanspek, Honeydew melon, Honeymelon, Crenshaw, Casaba.

Life form:

Forb-herb, Vine.

Flowering time:

no data.

Flowering period

in Georgia for this plant is: June ↔ October.

NECTAR PRODUCTION:

No data

SOURCE FOR HONEY BEES:

Minor

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.

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List of honey plants that may be blooming now in Georgia

See the entire list

Brassica napus (aka: Rapeseed)

Sinapis arvensis (aka: Charlock mustard, California rape, Charlock, Corn mustard, Canola, Kaber mustard, Rapeseed mustard)

Asclepias tuberosa (aka: Butterflyweed, Butterfly Milkweed, Orange Milkweed, Pleurisy Root, Chigger Flower, Canada root, Fluxroot, Indian paintbrush, Indian posy, Orange root, Orange Swallow-wort, Tuber root, Yellow milkweed, White-root, Windroot, Butterfly love)

Cucumis sativus (aka: Cucumber, Cetriolo, Gherkin)

Cucumis melo (aka: Cantaloupe, Rockmelon, Sweet melon, Spanspek, Honeydew melon, Honeymelon, Crenshaw, Casaba)

Citrullus lanatus (aka: Watermelon)

Asteraceae (aka: Aster, Daisy, Composite)