MUSKMELON

also called Nutmeg Melon, any of the strongly netted-rind melons of the Reticulatis group of the common melon (species Cucumis melo), in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae. Muskmelons are noted for their sweet, juicy, musky-scented, orange flesh, which accounts for their ranking as probably the most important commercial melons. In North America these melons are sometimes inaccurately referred to as cantaloupe, a term that should properly be reserved for other melons, C. melo of the Cantalupensis group. See also melon.