Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis

The cantaloupe is a type of true melon (Cucumis melo) from the family Cucurbitaceae. Originally, cantaloupe referred only to the non-netted, orange-fleshed melons of Europe, but today may refer to any orange-fleshed melon of the C. melo species, including the netted muskmelon which is called cantaloupe in North America, rockmelon in Australia and New Zealand, and spanspek in Southern Africa. Cantaloupes range in mass from . Etymology and origin The name cantaloupe was derived in the 18th century via French from The Cantus Region of Italian , which was formerly a papal county seat near Rome, after the fruit was introduced there from Armenia. It was first mentioned in English literature in 1739. The cantaloupe most likely originated in a region from South Asia to Africa. It was later introduced to Europe, and around 1890, became a commercial crop in the United States. Melon derived from use in Old French as during the 13th century, and from Medieval Latin , a kind of pumpkin. It was among the first plants to be domesticated and cultivated. The South African English name is said to be derived from Afrikaans ('Spanish bacon'); supposedly, Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century governor of Cape Colony, ate bacon and eggs for breakfast, while his Spanish-born wife preferred cantaloupe, so South Africans nicknamed the eponymous fruit Spanish bacon. However, the name appears to predate the Smiths and date to 18th-century Dutch Suriname: J. van Donselaar wrote in 1770, " is the name for the form that grows in Suriname which, because of its thick skin and little flesh, is less consumed."