| Cucumber | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cucumbers growing on vines | |
| |
| A single cucumber fruit | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Cucurbitales |
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Genus: | Cucumis |
| Species: | C. sativus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cucumis sativus | |
The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.[1] Considered an annual plant,[2] there are three main types of cucumber—slicing, pickling, and seedless—within which several cultivars have been created. The cucumber originates in Asia extending from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China (Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi), and Northern Thailand,[3][4][5][6] but now grows on most continents, and many different types of cucumber are grown commercially and traded on the global market. In North America, the term wild cucumber refers to plants in the genera Echinocystis and Marah, though the two are not closely related.
- ^ "Cucumber." Encyclopædia Britannica. [1998] 2019.
- ^ Silvertown, Jonathan (1985). "Survival, Fecundity and Growth of Wild Cucumber, Echinocystis Lobata". Journal of Ecology. 73 (3): 841–849. doi:10.2307/2260151. JSTOR 2260151.
- ^ Chomicki, Guillaume; Schaefer, Hanno; Renner, Susanne S. (June 2020). "Origin and domestication of Cucurbitaceae crops: insights from phylogenies, genomics and archaeology". New Phytologist. 226 (5): 1240–1255. doi:10.1111/nph.16015.
- ^ Weng, Yiqun (7 January 2021). "Cucumis sativus Chromosome Evolution, Domestication, and Genetic Diversity: Implications for Cucumber Breeding". Plant Breeding Reviews. Wiley: 79–111. doi:10.1002/9781119717003.ch4.
- ^ "Cucumis sativus L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- ^ Bisht, I. S.; Bhat, K.V.; Tanwar, S. P. S.; Bhandari, D. C.; Joshi, Kamal; Sharma, A. K. (January 2004). "Distribution and genetic diversity of Cucumis sativus var. hardwickii (Royle) Alef in India". The Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology. 79 (5): 783–791. doi:10.1080/14620316.2004.11511843. ISSN 1462-0316.