CUCUMIS SATIVUS, Linn.' 



[Fiie Plates LI. and LII]. 



English, cucumber; Yeenacular, khira; Sanscrit, sukasa.t 



Natural order Cucurbitacece, tribe Cucumerinece. A scabrous trailing or climbing annual. 

 Stems little branched, angular ; tendrils simple (much reduced in the trailing hot weather variety). 

 Leaves 3-5 lobed, sub-triangular cordate, undulate, very rough on both sides, dark green above, 

 paler beneath ; lobes acute or acuminate, with a dentate or crenate margin ; petioles about equal 

 to the blade, stout, solid, deeply channelled above, and hispid. Flowers shortly staUved, yellow, 

 monoecious. Male flowers in axillary clusters ; calyx tube campanulate, very hairy, teeth subu- 

 late about equal to the tube, spreading or reflexed ; corolla about 1^ in. across, divided more 

 than half way towards the base, hairy outside especially on the veins ; stamens 3, anther lobes flox- 

 uose, connective forming a terminal crest. Female flowers solitary or fascicled ; calyx and corolla 

 as in male ; ovary ovoid, style short, with three oblong stigmas ; fruit ovate or oblong, very variable 

 in size, smooth or tuberculate, yellowish green or mottled with brown ; seeds numerous, white, 

 acute at each end, without a margin. 



There is no doubt that the original home of the cucumber was in Northern 

 India. I As a cultivated plant in this country it is of great antiquity. 



There are numerous varieties, some of them hot weather, others rainy season vege- 

 tables. The ordinary hot weather kind has small egg-shaped fruits. Mr. Gollan§ 

 remarks as follows regarding the proper mode of cultivation : — 



" In order to keep np the supply until the beginning of the rains, three sowings should be made, one 

 " in the end of February, one in the middle, and one in the end of March. It will succeed fairly well in any 

 " soil, but prefers a rich one. The ground should be laid out in drills, one foot apart. Sow the seeds 

 "along both sides of the drill, and if the soil is very dry, water immediately after sowing. After they 

 "germinate, water every ten days. This vegetable, like the kakri, should not be watered too often." 



The rainy season varieties have much larger fruits, more like the English kind 

 in appearance. Mr. Gollan|| mentions two varieties as being commonly grown in this 

 part of India, and thus describes them : — 



" When in a young state the colour of one is a dark green, and of the other creamy-white. When full 

 "grown both are about a foot long, and the colour changes to a rusty brown. These two, although not 

 " equal to the commonest varieties met with in England, are not to be despised. They thrive with little 

 " care, and are always sure of yielding a crop." 



Another variety called C. HardwicHi, Eoyle, grows wild on the Himalayas, and is 



* References Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 720 ; W. & A. Prod. 342 ; Kurz in Journ. As. ??oc. Bong. 1877 Part ii. p. 103 ; 

 Naudin Ann. Sc. Mat. .^'er. 4 Vol. xi. p. 27 ; Hook. Fl. Brit. Ind. ii. G20 ; ,\tlunson Econom. Prod. N-.W. P. Part v, p. 9 ; 

 Gaz, N.-W. P. Vol. X. 701 ; Cogniaux in DC. Mon. Phan. iii. 4'J8 ; DC. L'Orig. PI. Cult. 210 ; Ind. For. Vol. ix. 

 (1883) pp. 162 and 201. C. Hardwickii, Royle 111. 220 t. 47 f. 3. 



t Piddington Index 20. 



X DC. L'Orig. PI. Cult. I.e. 



§ Indian Forester Vol. ix. (1883) p. 162. 



II Indian Forester Vol. ix. (1883) p. 201. 



