Cucumis melo

Cucumis melo L., Sp. pl. 2:1011. 1753 (Syn: Bryonia collosa Rottler [= Cucumis melo subsp. melo]; Cucumis chito C. Morren [≡ Cucumis melo subsp. agrestis var. chito]; Cucumis collosus (Rottler) Cogn. [= Cucumis melo subsp. melo]; Cucumis dudaim L. [≡ Cucumis melo subsp. agrestis var. dudaim]; (=) Cucumis dudaim var. aegyptiacus Sickenb.; Cucumis flexuosus L. [≡ Cucumis melo subsp. melo var. flexuosus]; (=) Cucumis melo var. acidulus Naudin ; (=) Cucumis melo var. aegyptiacus (Sickenb.) Hassib; (=) Cucumis melo var. ameri Gabaev  ; Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis Naudin [= Cucumis melo subsp. melo var. cantalupo]; “Cucumis melo subsp. conomon (Thunb.) Greb., nom. inval.” [≡ Cucumis melo subsp. agrestis var. conomon]; (=) “Cucumis melo var. duripulposus Filov, nom. inval.”  (previously associated with 3 accessions); (=) “Cucumis melo var. hibernus Filov, nom. inval.“; (=) Cucumis melo var. makuwa Makino; (=) Cucumis melo var. microspermus Nakai ex Kitam.; (=) Cucumis melo var. pubescens (Willd.) Kurz; Cucumis melo var. reticulatus Naudin [= Cucumis melo subsp. melo var. cantalupo]; Cucumis melo var. utilissimus (Roxb.) Duthie & J. B. Fuller [= Cucumis melo subsp. agrestis var. conomon]; (=) Cucumis microspermus Nakai; Cucumis momordica Roxb. [≡ Cucumis melo subsp. agrestis var. momordica]; (=) Cucumis pubescens Willd.; Cucumis trigonus Roxb. [= Cucumis melo subsp. melo]; Cucumis utilissimus Roxb. [= Cucumis melo subsp. agrestis var. conomon]);

   
 
 

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Fruits For ID : California : 12JAN15 : AK-19 : 6 posts by 3 authors. Attachments (2)
Fruits seen at the Farmers Market in Fremont during Sept,14.
Melon?

this is
A heirloom melon called a weird name: Tigger melon (its an apabhramsha of tiger the carnivore….. there is a childrens’ book character calld Tigger…)
originally from armenia
very sweet and fragrant
there’s another called Passport melon from Israel but thats more yellow regular skin but equally sweet and one more from Mexico… I dont remember the name… they look very similar and taste heavenly.. did you buy one and eat it
if you did not, missed an experience…
but you may find in muscat or oman where you frequently travel to as exotic fruits are becoming common in that part of the world…..
Very interesting name for this melon. Does look like it.

… can validate since he is quite familiar with all Cucurbits and also Farmers Market in California.

Heirloom melon is a common term used for many of the melons. If you are still in California you may visit the market and ask the seller its correct name.

Reference: http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Tigger_Melon_6348.php

 

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12 posts by 3 authors.
Dossakaya or dosakai the common fruit used in South India in sambar and pachari preparations has been bothering me for some time. I saw plenty of fruits sold in Indian stores in california, although I never found them being sold here in Delhi.

  Most websites including Wikipedia identify it as Cucumis sativus, but the shape of the fruit, its size and skin does not support this.
There is one website calling it Cucumis callosus that is considered as C. melo subsp. agrestis var. agrestis by Fl. Pakistan, but C. melo subsp. melo by GRIN
Yet another website considers it as C. melo subsp. agrestis var. dudaim
This last one looks more logical as fruits resemble pocket melons except larger size. var. chito (lime melon, apple melon) look even more closer to our dosakai.
Can any friend help to solve this dilemma.

If these two photographs really belong to dosakaya, then it is a melon (Cucumis melo subsp. agrestris var. dudaim).

According to Piddington Cucumis utilissimus (Roxb.) is DOSKAY in Telinga (p26 & p131).
Flora Indica, vol3, p721 describes, “… leaves five lobed, lobes rounded, … fruit short-oval, smooth. variegated, of the size of  small melon…… appears to me to be by far the most useful species……. when little more than one-half grown they are oblong, and a little downy, in this state they are pickled; when ripe they are about as large as an ostrich’s egg, smooth and yellow……. flavour of the melon….. this agriculture is chiefly confined in to the Guntoor Circar…..”
Other illustrations of Cucumis melo & ssp – http://www.plantillustrations.org/species.php?id_species=297153
There is another Cucumis momordica Roxb. – PEDDA DOSKAY in Teling; FOOTI in Bengali. “from 12 to 24 inches long, and three to six in diam….. fruits when ripe bursting slowly”. I have seen these in market and they are eaten ripe as  fruits, here.

Thanks … We seem to be moving towards Cucumis melo in place of Cucumis sativus as suggested by most websites.

I seem to have both C. momordica, commonly grown in rajasthan with pinkish-yellow skin and flesh. It is now Cucumis melo subsp. agrestris var. momordica
C. agrestris susbp. agrestris var. conomon (the new name for C. utillisimus Roxb.) I think is also different. I seem to have it. 
I have asked my son to send me more photographs of Dosakaya from California, with section through the flesh, because flesh of var. dudaim is very distinct more like our Sarda fruit. I hope we should be moving towards it after someone finds real dosakaya vine.
Thanks a lot … for your painstaking research.

Also important to mention that in Indian works the name C. utilissimus has been much confused, often applied to C. flexuousus, the tar or kakri, of course wrongly as link by … shows, and the following discussion in Fl. Pakistan

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=250077273

Ok Sir,

However, other species described in FI are –
  1. C. colocynthis L.
  2. C. melo L.
  3. C. sativus L.
  4. C. trigonis Roxb. (trigonus)
  5. C. turbinatus Roxb.
  6. C. madraspatanus L. (maderaspatanas)
  7. C. integrifolia Roxb.
As per internet DOSAKAYA or DOSA KAYA is often used for cucumber, e.g.- Book link
There are many varieties of DOSAKAY, as can be searched in the net.
A correction or addition – i couldn’t find names of varieties, but a few culinary blog discussions suggest presence of many varieties/cultivars of DOSAKAYA.

Yes … Thanks my doubts were not unfounded. Today I also sent the photograph to our member Dr. Renner, a world authority on Cucurbitaceae, especially Cucumis. He has confirmed the plant to be C. melo,

 

 

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Fruits & Vegetable week – Brown cucumber: Sending photos of brown cucumber which was growing in our balcony garden. This vegetable videly used in South Indian dishes. In Malayalam we call it Vellarikka.
Place :  Dombivli
Date  :  June 2009 

-I had seen this known as Dosakai cucumber in Indian stores in California and uploaded it twice,  infact I had requested two three times to the members to locate this in India also. Thanks you have uploaded it, though it has not yet turned brown. It is also known as Mangalore cucumber or sambar cucumber. I am uploading mine from California. I have yet to see the Puna or Puneri cucumber which light greenish yellow in colour. 

– Yes, the photo was taken when it was young. when mature it turns to brownish red or yellow. We prepare a dish containing brown cucumber and arvi. I do not know the name of the dish, but it is very tasty when taken with hot rice along with curd.

– While surfing the net I discovered an interesting thing. Dosakai cucumber or Mangalore cucumber is also known as yellow cucumber and often known as melon cucumber, being rounded in shape (I have seen them up to 10 cm across in California stores), usually yellowish brown with green speckles, but then in some writing the melon becomes lemon, the yellow colour is uniform and size of lemon, and believe me for both the alternate name is dosakai. I found it strange. Are we looking at two different cucumbers, or same?

Dosakai is confirmed as Cucumis melo as per discussions in another thread.

  

 
 
 
 
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