Group members:1. Ngang Huey Chi2. Siti Rahayu binti Mohamed Noor3. Syanawiyyah binti Md Zin 4. Umi Abibah binti Sulaiman 5. Wong Siew Ching  

Some Interesting Tropical Fruits-Development from flower to fruit

Cucumis melo (Honeydew)

Introduction Honeydew is a cultivar group of muskmelon, Cucumis

melo Inodorus group, which includes crenshaw, casaba, Persian, winter, and other mixed melons.

Honeydew melons are a variety of Muskmelon and are considered the sweetest of all melons.

Average sized honeydew melon weighs about 5 pounds (2.27kg)

Good-quality Honeydew melons will turn a creamy yellow color and the skin will have a slightly waxy feel when ripe.

Most honeydew melons have white or green flesh and mature within 100 to 120 days after planting.

Honeydew melon has some nutritional value, especially in its Vitamin C content.

Seeds

• Honeydew melons are easy to grow from seed

• Honeydew will rattle from loose seeds when ripe.

• Honeydew seeds are edible and are pressed for oil. (The sprouting seeds contain toxins.)

oThe life of a honeydew melon begins with a seed.oHoneydew seeds are smooth and compressed , mostly without margin.oHoneydew melon seed contains two cotyledons.

Biologically, seeds are mature ovules.

FlowerFlower is the sexual part of the plant

Male Sex Organ The male sex organ in the male honeydew flower is called the anther, which produces pollen. Female Sex Organs The female portions of the female flower are the stigma, pistil and ovule. The ovule contains the unfertilized ova of the plant.

•After an ovule is fertilized, the endosperm nucleus and associated maternal tissues begin mitosis and differentiation.•The ovary begins to expand. The petal of the

flower will fall off and the ovule develop into seed.

FlowerCalyx•campanulate(bell -shaped) ,•5- lobed•subulate (tapering to a point ). Corolla :• yellow in colour•have 5-lobed, lobes mostly ovate and acute.

Female Sex OrganHave 3-5 Stigmas .Ovary are ovoid in shape. Ovules are horizontal, numerous. Style are short and simple, surrounded by annular disc.

Male Sex OrgansHave 3 StamensFilaments are short.

Fruits

They are three main categories of fruits: simple, aggregate and multiple fruits.Honeydew is a simple fruit (derived from a single ovary) and have fleshy pericarp(fruit wall).Fleshy part ussually is attractive to animals;Animals eat the fruit and, in turn, carry away the seeds Honeydew have ovary wall with a hard rind. (Pepo)Pepo: The berry has an outer wall or rind that is formed from receptacle tissue that is fused to the exocarp. The mesocarp and endocarp form the fleshy interior.

Fruit , the ripened ovary of flower, is important for protect seeds and aid in their dispersal.

Fruits

Honeydews have smooth, harder skins The skins of honeydews actually feel hairy when the fruit is not ripe. As the fruit matures, the skins become smooth and slippery and some varieties change colour. When the fruit is fully ripe, the skins change again to have a waxy feel.

Smell the fruitHoneydew have a strong sweet smell, which is especially evident when the melon is at room temperature.

Life Cycle of a Honeydew Melon

• Honeydew melons are angiosperms, meaning they grow flowers to reproduce.

• Each flower contains the necessary sex organs to produce seeds and thereby continue the life cycle, which usually lasts three to four months.

Life Cycle of a Honeydew Melon

1. Germination and Growth The life of a honeydew melon begins with a

seed. The seed will grow into a honeydew melon vine, which will reproduce by growing a flower, the sexual part of the plant. (A single vine will produce 4-6 melons.)

2. Pollination Pollination is accomplished when pollen grains, the male gametes of the plant, are transferred to the stigma by an insect or other pollinator.

3. Fertilization The pollen grains come in contact with the stigma and stick to it. Sperm within the pollen then travels down a path called a pollen tube through the pistil into the ovule to the ova and fertilize them.

4. Seed Growth and Disbursal The flower dies and a seed pod forms, which becomes a honeydew melon. Eventually, the melon will either be eaten or rot and the seeds will be disbursed to start a new generation. (Honeydew melons do not slip from the vine)

Honeydew melon in the middle

The End