Cantaloupe

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Template:Ratings Cantaloupe refers to two varieties of muskmelon (Cucumis melo), which is a species in the family Cucurbitaceae (a family which includes nearly all melons and squashes). Cantaloupes are typically 15–25 cm in length and are somewhat oblong, though not as oblong as watermelons. Like all melons, cantaloupes grow best in sandy, well-aerated, well-watered soil that is free of encroaching weeds.

The European cantaloupe is Cucumis melo cantalupensis. Its lightly-ribbed, pale green skin looks quite different from the North American cantaloupe. The North American cantaloupe, common in the United States and in some parts of Canada, is Cucumis melo reticulatus (or sometimes C. melo melo var. cantalupensis), a different member of the same muskmelon species. It is named reticulatus due to its net-like (or reticulated) skin covering. In Australia and New Zealand, it is called rockmelon due to the rock-like appearance of the skin of the fruit. It is called a spanspek or sweet melon in South Africa, where it is harvested during the summer months October through February. It is a round melon with firm, orange, moderately-sweet flesh and a thin reticulated light-brown rind. Varieties with redder and yellower flesh exist but are not common, and they are not considered as flavorsome as the more common variety.

Although they originated on Earth, other UNSC colony worlds have successfully grown them for export, such as Harvest before its destruction. When first seeing Maccabeus' message carved into a piece of titanium, Governor Nils Thune incorrectly identified the Brute's drawing of Harvest as that of a cantaloupe, and offered one of such to him.