MELON FACTS: Cantaloupes and netted melons are ripe when they give off a sweet fruity odour, at which time they "slip" or break readily at the union of fruit and stalk. Honeydews and casabas are ripe when they turn yellow, at which time they are cut from the vine; they are called the winter melons because they ripen late and mature slowly in storage for many weeks, becoming softer but not noticeably sweeter. Plants resembling true melons include the watermelon (q.v.); the Chinese watermelon; the melon tree; and the melon shrub, or pear melon (Solanum muricatum), with purple fruit and yellow aromatic flesh, native to the Andes.