It was the summer of '97 in North Central Texas. The Texas Rangers were in the middle of an unsuccessful division bid that year. It was the year after their first franchise division title and the year before their next one. We had a garden that year. Among other fruits and vegetables grown were a type of cantaloupe known as Pecos. I read an article recently from the San Antonio Express News that says cantaloupes from the Pecos region are on the decline. "Around Pecos, harvested acreage of cantaloupe plummeted from more than 2,000 in 1969 to roughly a tenth of that amount in 2017." That summer of '97 we had a good crop, though.
As it turns out, the sweet fruit I remember as a kid were not cantaloupes. Technically, the only true cantaloupes are European cantaloupes, and they can not be bought at the store. What we buy (or grow) here in the USA are more accurately termed, muskmelons. The Australians call them rock melons. More on this can be found in the "Cantaloupe" section of the site.
The muskmelon is a species of melon which is a fruit of the pepo type. Kingdom: Plantae, Order: Cucurbitales, Family: Cucurbitaceae, Genus: Cucumis, Species: Cucumis melo. In Ancient times, its seeds were commonly traded along caravan routes. Suggestions on origin range from Egypt to Persia, or Asia to Africa. Over millennia, farmers have developed variety of fruit based on sweetness and shape. Today, the fruits which fall under the muskmelon category vary widely from the watermelon to the Armenian cucumber.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the term mush melon is a dialectical variant of the more commonly named muskmelon. In some regions, mush melon may refer to honeydews and watermelons while muskmelons are reserved for cantaloupes, or those melons exhibiting a strong musky smell. The muskmelon is the proper term for any variety of cultivated melons, smooth or netted cultivars, however, and mush melon is likely a butchered form of the word.
Not all muskmelons have sweet flesh as you might expect to find with a European cantaloupe or the Israel Melon. The Snake Melon is popular in Arabic countries and some grown in Africa are primarily harvested for their seeds. One visible trait which divides muskmelon fruits is outer skin type. There are smooth varieties, as seen with honeydew, and there are netted varieties common to American cantaloupe, or rock melons.
Generally speaking, muskmelons contain 34 calories per serving, are ninety percent water, 9 percent carbohydrates, and 1 percent fat and protein. Muskmelons are nutritious. Eating muskmelons provide you with a 20 percent daily value of vitamin A and a 68 percent daily value of vitamin C.
This site provides the reader with a good amount of muskmelon images and facts, and hopes to give him/her a better understanding of the fruit, its varieties, and tips for successful gardening/consumption. You may view it as the de facto source for muskmelon knowledge. Also, the site serves as a personal brain dump of sorts, featuring really whatever I feel like sharing, no cap.
Sources:
http://SanAntonioExpressNews/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=SAEN
%2F2019%2F08%2F06&entity=Ar00301&sk=DC793D34&mode=text#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskmelon
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mushmelon