So what is a melon? It's a fruit or a vegetable, maybe a berry?

Nobody will remember now, from what suddenly a doubt arose that a melon is a fruit or a vegetable? Moreover, some believe that she and her close relative watermelon are berries. So whether this really is, let's try to figure it out right now.

Sister of cucumber

To answer such an interesting question, it is necessary to move mentally to the vegetable garden or a melon plant and remember how the melon grows, what its leaflets are like, what family it belongs to.

Some people, after seeing a scam of melon and cucumber for the first time, will be surprised, because they are so similar. Such a liana, depending on the variety, spreads a few meters. In addition to this general feature, the leaves of both cultures are also almost identical. They are small, fan shaped. Of course, for example, in Uzbekistan, melon sheets will be large, but in Moscow's greenhouses they are very modest. And this will help to answer the question: "Melon is a fruit or a vegetable?" After all, it is the small size of a leaf of a fragrant beauty that makes it possible to visually see her relationship to a cucumber. At it they precisely same on the form, but hardly more darkly on color and less pubescent.

Melon is a fruit or a vegetable?

Those who have never grown or seen a melon grow, they might think that they have a cucumber whip before them. After it will show yellow flowers, it will also be difficult to say whether melon or cucumber is a liana. After all, the last flowers are almost the same size and color. No wonder this factor confuses even bees. They pollinate both those and other plants, carrying their pollen from flower to flower on their legs. Therefore, sometimes the melon fruit that grew next to the cucumber, recall the taste of the latter.

The root system in representatives of both cultures is also identical - it is not deep, but grows in breadth. Both vegetables do not like transplantation, as roots are injured.

All of the above helps to dispel doubts. Thinking, a melon is a fruit or a vegetable, you can say with certainty that this is a vegetable. After all, a cucumber is exactly what they are, and his native fragrant sister can not belong to other botanical classes of plants.

We dispel the myth that a melon is a berry

So what is a melon - a fruit, a vegetable or a berry? Honey fruit is often equated not only to fruits, but also to berries. Where did this opinion come from? The reason for thinking was the watermelon. For some reason, some began to call it a huge berry. They say that watermelon is very sweet, so it is not a vegetable, but it can be a berry. They also grow on the ground, not on trees. Yes, strawberries, cranberries and some others live at the soil level. However, the writers of myths forgot that cherries, cherries, which are berries, grow on trees. Therefore, the fact that the watermelon lives on the ground is not at all proof of its "berry" origin.

Melon, like him, is also a melon culture. Writers of myths prove that once a watermelon is a berry, then its cousin's relative is also a melon. But, as was shown above, a fruit with a juicy scarlet flesh is not a berry, therefore, a melon can not be considered a botanical class of plants.

If you look at the leaves of pumpkin, zucchini, cucumber, melon, you can clearly see their similarity with the leaves of melon. Therefore, the melon is a vegetable, as well as the culture data. By the way, in zucchini zucchini leaves are almost the same as those of watermelons - they are openwork and carved. Therefore, even a watermelon is sweet, but also a vegetable. And not a berry. Now everyone, thinking about whether a melon is a fruit or a vegetable, can say that this is a vegetable.