The currently accepted protocol is to divide all melons into two categories -- melons and watermelons. Melon fruit show extreme variations from the common muskmelon, sometimes looking more like an orange, banana, or cucumber.

Fruit may be oval, oblong or very long and slender. They may vary in length from three or four inches to more than three feet (snake cucumber-which is really a melon). The surface may be white, grayish green, golden yellow, orange or black.

It may be sutured (ribbed or grooved), smooth, or netted (covered with a network of corky tissue). When it occurs, netting may be rope-like and prominent or flat-surfaced, fine, and less conspicuous. The flesh may be white, green, salmon pink or orange. It may be sweet, aromatic, spicy, bland, or a combination of these.

North Carolina Melons Growers/Shipper List

Cooling/Storage Requirements of North Carolina Melons