Cucumber

Cucumber
Cucumbers growing on vines
Photograph of 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 L.

The cucumber (Cucumis sativus) is a widely grown plant in the family Cucurbitaceae. This family also includes squash. A cucumber looks similar to a zucchini (British English: courgette).

To a botanist, cucumbers are biologically fruits even if they are commonly thought of as vegetables: that is their value as a food. They can be cooked, eaten raw, or pickled. Some people hollow out the cucumber and fill it with other food, like tomatoes or feta cheese.

Cucumbers grow on a climbing plant. They need warm weather, sunlight, and water. People grow them in gardens, farms, and greenhouses.

Wild cucumbers have weak spines that likely evolved as a defense against herbivory, many people have purebred cucumbers to be less spiny.

A pile of cucumbers for sale at a market