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melocactus |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Melon \Mel"on\, n. [F., fr L. melo, for melopepo an apple-shaped melon, Gr ?; ? apple + ? a species of large melon; cf L. malum apple. Cf {Marmalade}.] 1. (Bot.) The juicy fruit of certain cucurbitaceous plants, as the muskmelon, watermelon, and citron melon; also the plant that produces the fruit. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A large ornamental, marine, univalve shell of the genus {Melo}. {Melon beetle} (Zo["o]l.), a small leaf beetle ({Diabrotiea vittata}), which damages the leaves of melon vines. {Melon cactus}, {Melon thistle}. a (Bot.) A genus of cactaceous plants ({Melocactus}) having a fleshy and usually globose stem with the surface divided into spiny longitudinal ridges, and bearing at the top a prickly and woolly crown in which the small pink flowers are half concealed. {M. communis}, from the West Indies, is often cultivated, and sometimes called {Turk's cap}. b The related genus {Mamillaria}, in which the stem is tubercled rather than ribbed, and the flowers sometimes large See Illust. under {Cactus}. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: Melocactus n : genus of strongly ribbed globose or spheroid cacti of tropical South and Central America and the Caribbean [syn: {Melocactus}, {genus Melocactus}]
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