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| − | {{Taxobox | + | __NOTOC__{{Plantbox |
| − | | color = lightgreen | + | | name = ''Cucumis sativus'' |
| − | | name = Garden cucumber | + | | common_names = Cucumber |
| | + | | growth_habit = herbaceous vine |
| | + | | high = <!--- 1m (3 ft) --> |
| | + | | wide = 25 square feet{{SSN}} |
| | + | | origin = India |
| | + | | poisonous = <!--- indicate parts of plants which are known/thought to be poisonous --> |
| | + | | lifespan = annual |
| | + | | exposure = full sun |
| | + | | water = maintain even moisture{{SSN}} |
| | + | | features = edible fruit |
| | + | | hardiness = <!--- frost sensitive, hardy, 5°C (40°F), etc --> |
| | + | | bloom = <!--- seasons which the plant blooms, if it is grown for its flowers --> |
| | + | | usda_zones = all zones |
| | + | | sunset_zones = all zones {{SSN}} |
| | + | | color = IndianRed |
| | | image = Cucumis sativus1.jpg | | | image = Cucumis sativus1.jpg |
| − | | image_width = 200px | + | | image_width = 240px <!--- leave as 240px if horizontal orientation photo, or change to 180px if vertical --> |
| | | image_caption = Cucumber | | | image_caption = Cucumber |
| − | | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | + | | regnum = Plantae |
| − | | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | + | | divisio = Magnoliophyta |
| − | | classis = [[Magnoliopsida]] | + | | classis = Magnoliopsida |
| − | | ordo = [[Cucurbitales]] | + | | ordo = Cucurbitales |
| − | | familia = [[Cucurbitaceae]] | + | | familia = Cucurbitaceae |
| − | | genus = ''[[Cucumis]]'' | + | | genus = Cucumis |
| − | | species = '''''C. sativus''''' | + | | species = sativus |
| − | | binomial = ''Cucumis sativus'' | + | | subspecies = |
| − | | binomial_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]] | + | | cultivar = |
| | }} | | }} |
| | + | {{edit-desc}}<!--- Type GENERAL genus/plant description below this line, then delete this entire line --> |
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| − | The '''cucumber''' (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely cultivated plant in the [[gourd]] family [[Cucurbitaceae]], which includes [[squash (fruit)|squash]], and in the same [[genus]] as the [[muskmelon]].
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| − | ==Botany== | + | ==Cultivation== |
| − | The cucumber is a creeping vine that roots in the ground and grows up [[Pergola#Trellis|trellises]] or other supporting frames, wrapping around ribbing with thin, spiraling tendrils. The plant has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruit.
| + | {{monthbox |
| | + | | color = IndianRed |
| | + | | name = <!--- type name of plant just to the right of the equal sign on the left --> |
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| | + | {{edit-cult}}<!--- Type cultivation info below this line, then delete this entire line --> |
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| − | The fruit is roughly [[cylinder (geometry)|cylindrical]], elongated, with tapered ends, and may be as large as 60 cm long and 10 cm in diameter. Cucumbers grown to be eaten fresh (called ''slicers'') and those intended for [[pickling]] (called ''picklers'') are similar.
| + | ===Propagation=== |
| − | [[Image:Cucumber leaf.jpg|thumb|A cucumber [[shoot|sprout]] with its first leaves]]
| + | {{edit-prop}}<!--- Type propagation info below this line, then delete this entire line --> |
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| − | ===Cucumbers are fruit=== | + | ===Pests and diseases=== |
| − | Having an enclosed seed and developing from a flower, cucumbers are scientifically classified as a [[fruit]]. Much like tomatoes and squash, despite the scientific classification their sour-bitter flavor contributes to cucumbers being perceived, prepared and eaten as vegetables.
| + | {{edit-pests}}<!--- Type pest/disease info below this line, then delete this entire line --> |
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| − | === Flowering and pollination === | + | ==Species== |
| − | A few varieties of cucumber are [[parthenocarpic]], the blossoms creating seedless fruit without [[pollination]]. Pollination for these varieties degrades the quality. In the US, these are usually grown in [[greenhouse]]s, where bees are excluded. In Europe, they are grown outdoors in some regions, and bees are excluded from these areas. Most cucumber varieties, however, are seeded and require pollination. Thousands of hives of [[honey bee]]s are annually carried to cucumber fields just before bloom for this purpose. Cucumbers may also be pollinated by [[bumblebee]]s and several other bee species.
| + | <!-- This section should be renamed Cultivars if it appears on a page for a species (rather than genus), or perhaps Varieties if there is a mix of cultivars, species, hybrids, etc --> |
| | + | <!-- Usually in list format like this: --> |
| | + | <!-- *''[[Freesia alba]]'' --> |
| | + | <!-- *''[[Freesia laxa]]'' (syn. ''Anomatheca laxa'', ''Lapeirousia laxa'') --> |
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| − | Symptoms of inadequate pollination include fruit abortion and misshapen fruit. Partially pollinated flowers may develop fruit which are green and develop normally near the stem end, but pale yellow and withered at the blossom end.
| + | ==Gallery== |
| | + | {{photo-sources}}<!-- remove this line if there are already 3 or more photos in the gallery --> |
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| − | Traditional varieties produce male blossoms first, then female, in about equivalent numbers. New [[gynoecious]] hybrid [[cultivar]]s produce almost all female blossoms. However, since these varieties do not provide [[pollen]], they must have interplanted a [[pollenizer|pollenizer variety]] and the number of beehives per unit area is increased. [[Insecticide]] applications for insect pests must be done very carefully to avoid killing off the insect [[pollinator]]s.
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| − | ==As a food==
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| − | {{nutritionalvalue | name=Cucumber, with peel, raw | kJ=65 | protein=0.65 g | fat=0.11 g | carbs=3.63 g | fiber=0.5 g | | sugars=1.67 g | iron_mg=0.28 | calcium_mg=16 | magnesium_mg=13 | phosphorus_mg=24 | potassium_mg=147 | zinc_mg=0.20 | vitC_mg=2.8 | pantothenic_mg=0.259 | vitB6_mg=0.040 | folate_ug=7 | thiamin_mg=0.027 | riboflavin_mg=0.033 | niacin_mg=0.098 | right=1 | source_usda=1 }}
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| − | The fruit is commonly harvested while still green, though generally after the fruits outgrow their spines. They are eaten as a [[vegetable]], either raw, cooked, or made into [[pickled cucumber]]s. Although less [[nutrition|nutritious]] than most fruit, the fresh cucumber is still a source of [[vitamin C]], [[vitamin K]], and [[potassium]], also providing [[dietary fiber]], [[vitamin A]], [[vitamin B6]], [[thiamin]], [[folate]], [[pantothenic acid]], [[magnesium]], [[phosphorus]], [[copper]], and [[manganese]]. Cucumbers are used in the decorative food art, [[garde manger]].
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| − | [[Image:PicklingCucumbers.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Pickling cucumbers]]
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| − | ===Pickling===
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| − | {{main|Pickled cucumber}}
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| − | Cucumbers can be [[Pickled cucumber|pickled]] for flavour and longer shelf life. As compared to eating cucumbers, pickling cucumbers tend to be shorter, thicker, less regularly-shaped, and have bumpy skin with tiny white- or black-dotted spines. They are never waxed. Color can vary from creamy yellow to pale or dark green. Pickling cucumbers are sometimes sold fresh as "Kirby" or "Liberty" cucumbers. The pickling process removes or degrades much of the nutrient content, especially that of vitamin C. Pickled cucumbers are soaked in vinegar or brine or a combination, often along with various spices.
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| − | ===Varieties===
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| − | *English cucumbers can grow as long as 2 feet. They are nearly seedless and are sometimes marketed as "Burpless," as the seeds give some people gas.
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| − | *Japanese cucumbers (''kyūri'') are mild, slender, deep green, and have a bumpy, ridged skin. They can be used for slicing, salads, pickling, etc., and are available year-round.
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| − | *Mediterranean cucumbers are small, smooth-skinned and mild. Like the English cucumber, Mediterranean cucumbers are nearly seedless.
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| − | *Slicers grown commercially for the North American market are generally longer, smoother, more uniform in color, and have a tougher skin. Slicers in other countries are smaller and have a thinner, more delicate skin.
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| − | *In [[North America]] the term "wild cucumber" refers to [[manroot]].
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| − | == History ==
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| − | The cucumber has been cultivated for at least 3,000 years in Western [[Asia]], and was probably introduced to other parts of Europe by the Romans. Records of cucumber cultivation appear in France in the 9th Century, England in the 14th Century, and in North America by the mid-16th Century.
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| − | ===Earliest cultivation===
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| − | The cucumber is believed to be native to India, and evidence indicates that it has been cultivated in Western Asia for 3,000 years. The cucumber is also listed among the products of ancient [[Ur]] and the legend of [[Gilgamesh]] describes people eating cucumbers. Some sources also state that it was produced in ancient [[Thrace]], and it is certainly part of modern cuisine in Bulgaria and Turkey, parts of which make up that ancient state. From [[India]], it spread to [[Greece]] (where it was called "vilwos") and [[Italy]] (where the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] were especially fond of the crop), and later into [[China]]. The fruit is mentioned in the Bible (Numbers 11:5) as having been freely available in Egypt, even to the enslaved Israelites: ''We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely/the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick''. The Israelites later came to cultivate the cucumber themselves, and Isaiah 1:8 briefly mentions the method of agriculture - ''The Daughter of Zion is left/like a shelter in a vineyard/like a hut in a field of melons/like a city under siege''. The shelter was for the person who kept the birds away, and guarded the garden from robbers.
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| − | ===Roman Empire===
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| − | The [[Roman Empire|Roman]] Emperor [[Tiberius]] had the cucumber on his table daily during summer and winter. The Romans reportedly used artificial methods (similar to the greenhouse system) of growing to have it available for his table every day of the year. They would be wheeled out in carts to sit in the sun daily, then taken in to keep them warm, stored under frames or in cucumber houses glazed with oiled cloth known as "[[Greenhouse|specularia]]."
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| − | Pliny the Elder describes the Italian fruit as very small, probably like a [[gherkin]], describing it as a wild cucumber considerably smaller than the cultivated one. Pliny also describes the preparation of a medication known as "elaterium", though some scholars believe that he refers to Cucumis silvestris asininus, a different plant from the common cucumber.<ref>Pliny the Elder, Book XX. Remedies Derived from the Garden Plants Chapter 2. (1.) -- The Wild Cucumber; Twenty-Six Remedies.</ref> Pliny also writes about several other varieties of cucumber, including the Cultivated Cucumber,<ref>Pliny the Elder, Book XX, chap. 5, the "Anguine or Erratic Cucumber" (Book XX, Chap 4. (2.))</ref> and remedies from the different types (9 from the cultivated, 5 from the "anguine", and 26 from the "wild". The Romans are reported to have used cucumbers to treat scorpion bites, bad eyesight, and to scare away mice. Wives wishing for children wore them around their waists. They were also carried by the midwives, and thrown away when the child was born.
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| − | ===In the Middle Ages===
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| − | Charlemagne had cucumbers grown in his gardens in ninth-century France. They were reportedly introduced into England in the early 1300s, lost, then reintroduced approximately 250 years later.
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| − | The [[Spaniards]] (in the person of [[Christopher Columbus]]) brought cucumbers to [[Haiti]] in [[1494]]. In 1535, [[Jacques Cartier]], a French explorer, found "very great cucumbers" grown on the site of what is now [[Montreal]].
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| − | ===Post-Enlightenment===
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| − | Throughout the 1500s, European trappers, traders, [[bison]] hunters, and explorers bartered for the products of Native American [[agriculture]]. The tribes of the [[Great Plains]] and the [[Rocky Mountains]] learned from the Spaniard how to grow European vegetables. The best farmers on the Great Plain were the [[Mandan Indians]] in what is now North and [[South Dakota]]. They obtained cucumbers and [[watermelons]] from the Spaniards, and added them to the vegetables they were already growing, including several varieties of [[corn]] and [[beans]], [[pumpkins]], [[Squash (fruit)|squash]], and [[gourd]] plants. The [[Iroquois]] were also growing them when the first Europeans visited them.
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| − | In 1630, the Reverend [[Francis Higginson]] produced a book called, "New England's Plantation," in which, describing a garden on Conant's Island in Boston Harbor known as "The Governor's Garden," he states: "The countrie aboundeth naturally with store of roots of great varietie and good to eat. Our turnips, parsnips, and carrots are here both bigger and sweeter than is ordinary to be found in England. Here are store of pompions, cowcumbers, and other things of that nature which I know not..."
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| − | William Wood also published in 1633's New England Prospect (published in England) observations he made in 1629 in America: "The ground affords very good kitchin gardens, for Turneps, Parsnips, Carrots, Radishes, and Pompions, Muskmillons, Isquoter-squashes, coucumbars, Onyons, and whatever grows well in England grows as well there, many things being better and larger."
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| − | In the later 1600s, a prejudice developed against uncooked vegetables and fruits. A number of articles in contemporary health publications state that uncooked plants brought on summer diseases and should be forbidden to children. The cucumber kept this vile reputation for an inordinate period of time: "fit only for consumption by cows," which some believe is why it gained the name, "cowcumber."
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| − | A copper etching made by Maddalena Bouchard between 1772 and 1793 shows this plant to have smaller, almost bean-shaped fruits, and small yellow flowers. The small form of the cucumber is figured in Herbals of the sixteenth century, but states, 'if hung in a tube while in blossom, the Cucumber will grow to a most surprising length.'
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| − | Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary on September 22, 1663: "this day Sir W. Batten tells me that Mr. Newhouse is dead of eating cowcumbers, of which the other day I heard of another, I think."
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| − | [[Fredric Hasselquist]], in his travels in [[Asia Minor]], [[Egypt]], [[Cyprus]] and [[Palestine]] in the 1700s, came across the Egyptian or hairy cucumber, ''Cucumis chate''. It is said by Hasselquist to be the "queen of cucumbers, refreshing, sweet, solid, and wholesome." He also states that "they still form a great part of the food of the lower-class people in Egypt serving them for meat, drink and physic." George E. Post, in Hastings's "A Dictionary of the Bible," states, "It is longer and more slender than the common cucumber, being often more than a foot long, and sometimes less than an inch thick, and pointed at both ends."
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| − | == Industry ==
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| − | In the United States, consumption of pickles has been slowing, while consumption of fresh cucumbers is rising. In 1999, the consumption in the US totalled 3 billion pounds with 171,000 acres of production across 6,821 farms and an average farm value of $361 million. Worldwide, production is highest in China, followed by Turkey, Iran and the US, which produced 4% of the world's cucumbers.<ref>[http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/erssor/economics/ao-bb/2000/ao277f.asc Economics lecture on US cucumber production.]</ref>
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| − | ==Image gallery==
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| | <gallery> | | <gallery> |
| − | Image:Mediterranean cucumber.JPG|A Mediterranean cucumber, whole and cut open, with AA battery for size. | + | Image:Upload.png| photo 1 |
| − | Image:Marketmore-Cuc.jpg|A Marketmore Ridge cucumber. | + | Image:Upload.png| photo 2 |
| − | Image:Cucumber1.jpg|An English cucumber, ready for consumption. | + | Image:Upload.png| photo 3 |
| | </gallery> | | </gallery> |
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| | ==References== | | ==References== |
| − | * {{ITIS|taxon = Cucumis sativus|ID = 22364|date = January 30|year = 2006}} | + | <!--- xxxxx *Flora: The Gardener's Bible, by Sean Hogan. Global Book Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0881925381 --> |
| | + | <!--- xxxxx *American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants, by Christopher Brickell, Judith D. Zuk. 1996. ISBN 0789419432 --> |
| | + | <!--- xxxxx *Sunset National Garden Book. Sunset Books, Inc., 1997. ISBN 0376038608 --> |
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| | ==External links== | | ==External links== |
| − | * [http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CUSA4 Plant profile] at the Plants Database ([http://plants.usda.gov/ http://plants.usda.gov/]) - shows classification and distribution by US state. | + | *{{wplink}} |
| − | * [http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~bcohen/cucumbers/history.html A very brief history of the cucumber in America]
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| − | * [http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=42 Cucumber as health food]
| + | {{stub}} |
| − | * [http://www.wineiscool.com/purple/food/ingredient/ingredient_cucumber.shtml Ancient history of the cucumber]
| + | [[Category:Categorize]] |
| − | * [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=917&letter=C A brief article on cucumbers in Palestine]
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| − | * [http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/publications/vegetabletravelers/cucumber.html A brief article on cucumber history]
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| − | * [http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/vegetables/cucumber.htm Specifics, including history, on cucumbers and their varieties]
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| − | * [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/history/lecture19/r_19-5.html Several plants listed from a work by Pliny the Elder]
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| − | * [http://www.adbio.com/science/agri-history.htm Source noting cucumbers in Ur in 3000 BC]
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| − | [[Category:Cucurbitaceae]]
| + | <!-- in order to add all the proper categories, go to http://www.plants.am/wiki/Plant_Categories and copy/paste the contents of the page here, and then follow the easy instructions! --> |
| − | [[Category:Vegetable-like fruits]]
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| − | [[Category:Plants and pollinators]]
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