Abstract
Melon (Cucumis melo L.) presents extensive diversity, particularly at the fruit level. The combination of independent phenotypic traits such as sex expression, fruit shape and size, skin colour, flesh colour, presence of gelatinous sheath around the seeds, and seed size can be used to define horticultural Groups and Sub-groups. This chapter presents a brief description of 19 Groups of wild, feral and domesticated melons, and for some of them of Sub-groups. Two new Groups are proposed: “kachri” for accessions intermediate between wild and cultivated, and “indicus” for certain accessions cultivated mainly in central India. It is proposed to merge the “cantalupensis” and the “reticulatus” Groups, and to split the large “inodorus” Group into three Groups, namely “cassaba”, “ibericus” and a smaller “inodorus”. A key for the determination of the Groups is proposed.
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Notes
- 1.
English translation as “All the varieties of this group are absolutely without aroma.”
- 2.
English translation as “For want of something better, I am forced to maintain this class, very broad and arbitrary, as it was proposed by Jacquin. One will find together varieties very different in appearance and quality, but at least which have the common trait to be of low aroma or even entirely devoid of aroma.”
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Pitrat, M. (2016). Melon Genetic Resources: Phenotypic Diversity and Horticultural Taxonomy. In: Grumet, R., Katzir, N., Garcia-Mas, J. (eds) Genetics and Genomics of Cucurbitaceae. Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7397_2016_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/7397_2016_10
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