The cantaloupe melon is a round fruit with firm, orange, and moderately sweet flesh. It has a thin, reticulated, light-brown rind. The cantaloupe is actually a type of muskmelon that originated in India and Africa. In the United States and some parts of Canada, the cantaloupe is known as Cucumis melo reticulatus (or sometimes C. Melo var. cantalupensis), which is a different variety of the same muskmelon species.