Cucumber, common name for a trailing or climbing annual herb of the gourd family. Native to Asia, it is widely cultivated in northAmerica and Europe for the immature fruit, which resembles a long, green cylinder. The fruit is picked at various stages of development and is usually eaten raw or pickled. Small cucumbers, picked when they are 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 in) long, are known as gherkins. Different varieties of cucumbers vary in length from about 10 to 76 cm (about 4 to 30 in). If the cucumber is allowed to mature, the fruit bulges in the middle, changes in color from green to yellow, and is not fit to eat.

Scientific classification: the cucumber belongs to the family cucurbitaceous. It is classified as cucumissativus.

Cucumber vine

The cucumber plant is widely cultivated for its fruit, which is edible when eaten at an immature stage of development. When mature, the cucumber turns yellow and swells considerably, becoming unfit to eat. Squirting CucumberCucumber Beetle

Cucumber Beetle, leaf-eating insect of the leaf beetle family. These beetles feed on the leaves of such plants as cucumbers, squashes, and pumpkins, as well as corn and beans. The adult cucumber beetle has a more or less oval, short body and short legs, and does not have a beak. They lay eggs on the leaves and stems of the plants on which they feed. The whitish, wormlike larvae bore into the stems and roots of plants.

The striped cucumber beetle and the banded cucumber beetle can be found in the eastern United States, where they destroy many plants, including grains. The striped cucumber beetle is black with white-striped elytra (wing covers). The banded cucumber beetle is light green with yellow bands across the wings. A western species, the western spotted cucumber beetle, has a green body and eleven black spots on its elytra.

Scientific classification: Cucumber beetles are members of the family Chrysomelidae. The striped cucumber beetle is classified as Acalymmavittata, the banded cucumber beetle as Diabroticabalteata, and the western spotted cucumber beetle as Diabroticaundecimpunctata.

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Squirting Cucumber, trailing, hairy perennial of the gourd family, native to the Mediterranean region. It has rough, heart-shaped leaves, yellow flowers, and small, oblong, greenish fruits that are covered with soft prickles. The squirting cucumber is grown for its medicinal uses and interesting fruits. When the fruit is ripe, internal pressure forcibly ejects the stopperlike fruit stalk, and the mucilaginous juicy pulp and brownish seeds squirt out through the stem opening. The juice contains the alkaloid elaterin. It is dried in flakes to form the cathartic drug elaterium.

Scientific classification: The squirting cucumber is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae. It is classified as Ecballium elaterium.

Gourd, common name for a family of plants consisting of characteristically rapid-growing vines with palmate lobed leaves, helically twisted tendrils, and often showy, unisexual flowers. The family contains about 760 species that are distributed mainly in the subtropical and tropical regions of the world. it is of importance as a source of food for humans, mostly as squashes and melons; it also provides fiber and ornamental plants.

The bottle gourd, or calabash, is among the oldest of cultivated plants. The hard shells of the fruits are used as containers. Winter squashes were staples in the diets of the pre-Columbian civilizations of the western hemisphere. Gourd, common name for a family of plants consisting of characteristically rapid-growing vines with palmate lobed leaves, helically twisted tendrils, and often showy, unisexual flowers. The family contains about 760 species that are distributed mainly in the subtropical and tropical regions of the world. it is of importance as a source of food for humans, mostly as squashes and melons; it also provides fiber and ornamental plants.

The bottle gourd, or calabash, is among the oldest of cultivated plants. The hard

Members of the family are generally low in nutrient value and are used to add variety to the diet. Food crops are numerous, and some species include several crops. Cucumbers are eaten fresh and preserved as pickles; another species produces various melons, including cantaloupe.

Scientific classification: gourds constitute the family cucurbitaceous in the order violates. The bottle gourd, or calabash, is classified as lager ariasiceraria.Winter squashes are classified in the genus cucurbita.The cucumber is classified as cucumissativus, the cantaloupe as cucumismelo.

Cucumber vine

The cucumber plant is widely cultivated for its fruit, which is edible when eaten at an immature stage of development. When mature, the cucumber turns yellow and swells considerably, becoming unfit to eat. Squirting Cucumber

Squirting Cucumber, trailing, hairy perennial of the gourd family, native to the Mediterranean region. It has rough, heart-shaped leaves, yellow flowers, and small, oblong, greenish fruits that are covered with soft prickles. The squirting cucumber is grown for its medicinal uses and interesting fruits. When the fruit is ripe, internal pressure forcibly ejects the stopperlike fruit stalk, and the mucilaginous juicy pulp and brownish seeds squirt out through the stem opening. The juice contains the alkaloid elaterin. It is dried in flakes to form the cathartic drug elaterium.

Scientific classification: The squirting cucumber is a member of the family Cucurbitaceae. It is classified as Ecballium elaterium.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

patriciaagre/photo researchers, inc.

1. fruit used in salads: a long fruit with dark green peel and crisp white watery flesh that is usually eaten raw in salads and sandwiches or pickled 2. plant with long green fruit: a climbing or trailing annual plant of the gourd family that produces cucumbers. Latin name: CucumissativusSee also squirting cucumber