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Revision as of 20:43, 22 March 2003 by Bluelion (talk | contribs) (rewrite)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The cucumber is the edible fruit of the cucumber plant Cucumis sativus, which belongs to the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, as do melons and squash. The plant has been cultivated for 3000 years, and is widely cultivated today. The cucumber plant has large leaves which form a canopy over the fruit. The vine is grown on the ground or on trellises, often in greenhouses.
The fruit, which is a vegetable in the culinary sense, is commonly harvested while still green, and is eaten raw, cooked, or made into pickles. Cucumbers have only small amounts of nutrients. Pickles are more nutritious than fresh cucumbers because of ingredients, especially dill, added during pickling.
Cucumbers are usually green-skinned, roughly cylindrical, elongated with tapered ends, and may be as large as 30 cm long and 5 cm in diameter. Cucumbers grown to be eaten fresh (called slicers) and those intended for pickling (called picklers) are similar. Slicers are generally longer, smoother, more uniform in color, and have a tougher skin. Picklers are generally shorter and thicker.
Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Plantae (plants)
- Superdivision: Spermatophyta (seed plants)
- Division: Magnoliophyta (flowering plants, angiosperms)
- Class: Magnoliopsida (dicots)
- Order: :Violales
- Family: Cucurbitaceae (cucumber family)
- Genus: Cucumis (melons)
- Species: Cucumis sativus (garden cucumber)
External links:
- Plant profile at the Plants Database (http://plants.usda.gov/) - shows classification and distribution by US state.