Cucumis melo

Japanese name: メロン
Scientific name: Cucumis melo

[Overview]
A climbing annual with much variation in form depending on the strain.
The leaves are alternate, shallowly lobed and toothed.
There are male and female flowers, both yellow.
The fruits are mostly round, but vary widely, from oval ones to long slender ones such as Hebi-meron.
The skin color also varies, being white, green, yellow, striped and so on, and some have ridges or netting.
The color and texture of the flesh are also diverse.

[History]
Those that spread west from India, thought to be the place of origin, are called melon, and those that spread to China and elsewhere are called Makuwa-uri and Shiro-uri.
Cultivation is recorded from ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and Roman times.
Cultivation began in Europe in the 11th–15th centuries and in America in the 16th century.
In Japan, fruits close to Makuwa-uri and Shiro-uri have already been excavated from sites of the late Jomon period, but what is called "melon" was introduced from around Meiji 20, commercial cultivation was established after Meiji 40, and it began to be distributed on the market in the Taisho era.

[Uses]
Besides being used as a fruit, it is also processed into pickles and other foods.

[Cultivation]
Cultivation methods differ depending on the cropping system and variety, such as greenhouse, plastic-house and open-field cultivation.
There are many pests and diseases, so countermeasures are necessary.

[Notes]
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries classifies melon not as a fruit but as a fruit-type vegetable.

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