Cucumis melo L.

Global description

Cucumis melo is a lianascent creeping plant with simple tendrils. The leaves are simple and alternate, weakly lobed laterally, strongly corded at the base. The flowers are unisexual, yellow. The fruit is a medium-sized berry (3 to 5 cm in diameter) marbled with dark green.

Cotyledons

Cotyledons are very developed. They are 15 mm long and 10 mm wide. They are subsessile. The blade is oblong, with a slightly emarginate apex. The base is rounded. On the upper face, the central rib and two pairs of arched lateral ribs are clearly visible. It is relatively thick.

First leaves

The first leaves are alternate and simple. The first one appears immediately above the cotyledons. They are borne by a long petiole. The lamina is suborbicular, with cunate apex and cordate base.

General habit

Cucumis melo has a creeping habit. The stems crawl on the ground or climb on any nearby support by clinging by the tendrils. The axes are little or not branched and can be more than one meter long.

Underground system

The root is a taproot.

Stem

The stem is cylindrical, solid and finely fluted. It is covered with pluricellular stiff hairs, 2 to 3 mm long. At the base of the petioles is a single tendril 8-10 cm long.

Leaf

The leaves are alternate and simple. They are borne by a petiole 3 to 10 cm long covered with multi-cellular stiff hairs. The lamina is suborbicular to oblong with 1 or 2 shallow lateral lobes. The summit is rounded and the base is deeply corded. The margin is finely denticulate. Both sides are very scabrous. The base of the limb is trinervated. At the top of the midrib are 2 or 3 pairs of arched lateral veins.

Flower

The flowers are solitary, yellow in color, inserted in the axil of the leaves. The sexes are separated but both present on the same individual. The female flowers are solitary, 15 to 20 mm wide, located on top of a strongly pubescent ovary. The calyx consists of 5 sepals welded into a section ending in 5 linear lobes. The corolla is formed of 5 obovate petals, mucronated at the top and welded together at the base. The male flowers are grouped 2-4 in the axils of the upper leaves. They are borne by a pedicel 10 to 15 mm long covered with stiff hair.

Fruit

The fruit is a spherical to ovoid berry 3 to 5 cm in diameter. The surface is pubescent when young and then becomes smooth. It is mottled with dark green longitudinal bands. The pulp is white with many seeds.

Seed

The seeds are oblong pips, borderless and white colored. They are 5 to 7 mm long and 3 to 4 mm wide.

https://www.gbif.org/species/2874570