Melotria (Melothria scabra) is a herbaceous liana native to. This crop belongs to the pumpkin family, and its closest relatives are cucumber, zucchini, watermelon and lesser - known lianas, such as coccinia, momordica, chayot or arhat. By the way, on the bags with seeds of melotria rough, some manufacturers write - "Mexican Cucumber". In nature, melotria goes through a long-term development cycle, but in temperate climates it is grown as an annual plant and even in regions of risky agriculture it manages to please with a good harvest. Like many climbing vines, melotria forms a thick green mass that looks very decorative. The length of the lashes reaches 3 m, so the culture is good in vertical gardening with trellises, pergolas and arches. Planted near any building, melotria is able to refine an old barn, transform a gazebo or decorate the wall of a house. The leaves of this liana are moderately green, triangular-dissected and rough, very similar to cucumber. Melotria clings to any supports with its tendrils, but requires a garter: the lashes can fall under the weight of numerous, strongly leafy side shoots. The first thing that strikes the gardener melotria rough — incredibly abundant flowering. The plant is literally strewn with small bright yellow flowers, and the female ones grow separately, and the male ones are collected in bunches. Plant an exotic vine on your plot and all the bees will be yours: these insects love melotria, so the fruits are tied at 100%. These are small oblong fruits with a length of 1.5-2.5 cm, with a dense skin and a pattern almost like a watermelon. Due to this particular color and miniature size of the fruit, the liana is ironically called "mouse watermelon". In general, the fruits of melotria rough in the photo immediately cause a storm of emotions on the forums of gardeners. They taste like cucumbers, but with a piquant sourness. The fruits are eaten fresh, straight handfuls, crumbled into salads, salted, pickled and decorated with dishes.