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Definition: cucumber from The Columbia Encyclopedia

fruit of Cucumis sativus, a species of gourd whose many varieties are descended from a plant native to Asia and Africa. Cucumber is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Violales, family Curcurbitaceae.

Breeding Cucumber

From Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding
Taxonomy Family Cucurbitaceae Genus Cucumis Species Sativus Cucurbits or vine-crop family (the Cucurbitaceae) comprises a number of very popular crops, including watermelon ( Citrullus lunatus ), cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ), and melon ( Cucumis melo ). Others are the pumpkin, squash and gourds. About 80% of the production occurs in Asia, with China leading the world in production. Other major producers are Turkey, Iran, the United States and Japan. Cucumber is among the top 10 most widely cultivated crops in the world. It is the third most commonly grown vegetable crop in the world. Cucumber is believed to have originated in India, with secondary centers of origin in China and the Near East. It was domesticated in Asia and later introduced into Europe. There are two key market classes of cucumber – pickling cucumbers and slicing cucumbers. Breeding, production, and marketing are designed around these classes. Pickling Cucumbers Pickling cucumbers are produced for processing or…
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Full text Article cucumber

From The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion
Believed to have originated in either India or Thailand, the cucumber has been cultivated for thousands of years. This long, cylindrical, green-skinned fruit of the gourd family has edible seeds surrounded by a mild, crisp flesh. The thin skin, unless waxed, does not require peeling. Cucumbers are…
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Full text Article cucumber

From Library of Health and Living: The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health
Cucumber Source: Getty Images.
Also known as: pickle A long, cylindrical, crisp green vegetable produced by a vine related to squash. Cucumbers have a shiny skin with a watery, crisp flesh. The cucumber once grew wild in the foothills of the Himalayas and was domesticated at least 3,000 years ago in India. Used in ancient times…
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Full text Article cucumber

From The Oxford Companion to Food
Cucumis sativus , one of the oldest cultivated vegetables, grown for some 4,000 years, may have originated in S. India. Cucumbers were known in Europe in classical and medieval times, and were introduced by Columbus to Haiti in 1494, after which they soon spread all over N. America. Like other…
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Full text Article sea cucumber

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
any of the flexible, elongated echinoderms belonging to the class Holothuroidea. Although sea cucumbers have the basic echinoderm radial symmetry (see Echinodermata ), they do not have arms like starfish. Instead the oral-anal distance is greatly increased, resulting in the typical cucumber-shaped…
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Full text Article sea cucumber

From The Oxford Companion to Food
sea cucumber
a mysterious creature which belongs to the class Holothurians. These creatures are quite distinct from fish, crustaceans, and molluscs. There are a lot of them (over 600 species) and they occur all round the world, but only a few species are used as food and only in some regions, notably the Orient…
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Full text Article sea cucumber

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Any echinoderm of the class Holothuroidea with a cylindrical body that is tough-skinned, knobbed, or spiny. The size ranges from 3 cm/1.2 in to 2 m/6.6 ft. There are around 900 species, which are mostly black, brown, or olive green in colour. Sea cucumbers are sometimes called ‘cotton-spinners’ …
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Full text Article sea cucumber

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Any of 1,100 species of echinoderms constituting the class Holothurioidea, found in all oceans, mostly in shallow water. The soft, cylindrical body is 0.75 in. (2 cm) to 6.5 ft (2 m) long and 0.4–8 in. (1–20 cm) thick. It is usually dull, dark, and often warty. The internal skeleton…
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Full text Article CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus)

From Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink
A long green vegetable in the gourd family that is generally eaten raw, as in a salad, or made into pickles. The word is from the Latin cucumis , which in Middle English became cucumber , first in print in a 1382 Bible. Though the cucumber was long believed to have originated in India, there is now…
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Momordica charantia , neither a true gourd nor a cucumber, although a member of the same cucurbit family as both. Another English name, balsam pear, is even less fitting. Names in India and the Philippines are, respectively, karela and ampalaya. The plant is thought to be a native of India, but has…
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Full text Article cucumoviruses (cucumber mosaic virus group)

From Dictionary of Microbiology & Molecular Biology
A category of ssRNA-containing PLANT VIRUSES which infect e.g. cucurbits and solanaceous plants; transmission occurs (non-persistently) via aphids and, in some hosts, via seeds, and can also occur mechanically. Type member: cucumber mosaic virus, CMV (S isolate). Other members: peanut stunt virus…
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