Flowering Jul–Oct. Gardens, fields, field edges, trash heaps, garbage dumps, lake shores, roadsides, ballast, sometimes volunteering from past plantings; 20–300 m; introduced; Ont.; Ala., Ark., Calif., Conn., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ky., La., Mass., Mich., Miss., Mo., Nev., N.H., N.Mex., N.Y, N.C., Ohio, Okla., Pa., R.I., S.C., Tex., Utah, Va., W.Va.; w Asia; w Africa; introduced also in West Indies.

Plants of subsp. melo outside of cultivation in the flora area mostly are the dessert melons; var. cantalupo and var. inodorus.

Main cultivar groups of subsp. melo:

a. Cucumis melo var. cantalupo Seringe. Asia; pepos medium-large, rind smooth, scaly, or netted, variable in color, aromatic with sweet, juicy flesh, dessert melons; andromonoecious. Formally a nomenclatural synonym of C. melo var. melo; the name var. cantalupo Seringe predates var. cantalupensis Naudin, which is often used for this dessert melon.

b. Cucumis melo var. inodorus Jacquin. Europe (Spain), Asia; pepos large, winter melons, with non-aromatic, non-climacteric and long-storing fruits, rind thick, smooth, wrinkled, or warty, dessert melons (honeydew, winter melon); andromonoecious.

c. Cucumis melo var. melo. Asia, Africa; pepos large, flesh sweet, rind netted, warty, or scaly, wild form of dessert melons; andromonoecious.