# Paris et al., ‘Medieval Emergence of Sweet Melons’, 2012 > [!cite] > Paris, Harry S., Zohar Amar, and Efraim Lev. ‘Medieval Emergence of Sweet Melons, *Cucumis Melo* (Cucurbitaceae)’. *Annals of Botany*, vol. 110, no. 1 (2012), pp. 23–33. [https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcs098](https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcs098). > [!abstract] > Sweet melons, *Cucumis melo*, are a widely grown and highly prized crop. While melons were familiar in antiquity, they were grown mostly for use of the young fruits, which are similar in appearance and taste to cucumbers, *C. sativus*. The time and place of emergence of sweet melons is obscure, but they are generally thought to have reached Europe from the east near the end of the 15th century. The objective of the present work was to determine where and when truly sweet melons were first developed. --- - Melons were originally grown for their young fruit, which taste and look more like cucumbers. [[Paris et al., ‘Medieval Emergence of Sweet Melons’, 2012|(Paris et al 2012, 23)]] ^982b69 - Sweet melons were present in Central Asia in the mid-9th century. [[Paris et al., ‘Medieval Emergence of Sweet Melons’, 2012|(Paris et al 2012, 23)]] ^3342a5 - Sweet melons were also found in Khorasan and Persia by the mid-10th century. [[Paris et al., ‘Medieval Emergence of Sweet Melons’, 2012|(Paris et al 2012, 23)]] ^7c3626 - Agricultural literature from Andalusia indicates the cultivation of sweet melons, particularly casabas, by the second half of the 11th century. [[Paris et al., ‘Medieval Emergence of Sweet Melons’, 2012|(Paris et al 2012, 23)]] ^f227e2