Stats

Lifespan: Annual
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Tropical forest
Range: South Asia
Movement: Climbing
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Spines
Status: Uncommon

About

The cucumber is a creeping vine cultivated worldwide for its cylindrical, dark-green fruit. It produces distinctively rough-skinned fruits covered in small white spines, and is one of the oldest cultivated vegetables — documented in ancient India over 3,000 years ago.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Cucumis
Species: Cucumis sativus