The Armenian cucumber, ''Cucumis melo'' var. ''flexuosus'', is a type of long, slender fruit which tastes like a

cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.muskmelon ''Cucumis melo'', also known as melon, is a species of '' Cucumis'' that has been developed into many cultivated varieties. The fruit is a pepo. The flesh is either sweet or bland, with or without a musky aroma, and the rind can be smooth (such a ...

(''C. melo''), a species closely related to the cucumber (''C. sativus''). It is also known as the yard-long cucumber, snake cucumber, snake melon, in Persian, in Kurdish, in Semnani, in Japanese, in Turkish, in Hindi, in Punjabi, in Arabic, or in Italian. It should not be confused with the snake gourds (''Trichosanthes'' spp.). The skin is very thin, light green, and bumpless. It has no bitterness and the fruit is almost always used without peeling. It is also sometimes called a ''gutah''. Kakdi

Description

The Armenian cucumber grows approximately long. It grows equally well on the ground or on a trellis. Armenian cucumber plants prefer to grow in full sun for most of the day. The fruit is most flavorful when it is long. Pickled Armenian cucumber is sold in Middle Eastern markets as "pickled wild cucumber".

History

Fredric Hasselquist Fredrik Hasselquist (3 January 1722 – 9 February 1752) was a Swedish traveller and naturalist. Hasselquist was born at Törnevalla, which is two kilometers east of Linghem, Östergötland. He studied under Carl Linnaeus at Uppsala Unive ...

, in his travels in

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

in the 18th century, came across the "Egyptian or hairy cucumber, ''Cucumis chate''", commonly known today in Egypt as "atta" (classical قِثَّاء or قُثَّاء (qiṯṯāʾ or quṯṯāʾ). It is today included in the Armenian variety. It is said by Hasselquist to be the “queen of cucumbers, refreshing, sweet, solid, and wholesome.” He also states “they still form a great part of the food of the lower-class people in Egypt serving them for meat, drink and physic.”

George E. Post George Edward Post (1838–1909) was an American surgeon, academic and botanist. Biography George Edward Post was born in New York City on December 17, 1838, the son of Alfred Charles Post. He was a Professor of Surgery at the Syrian Pro ...

, in ''

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible ''Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible'' was a five-volume Biblical encyclopaedia published 1898–1904. First edition The full title was ''A Dictionary of the Bible, dealing with the Language, Literature and Contents, including the Biblical Theology ...

'', states, “It is longer and more slender than the common cucumber, being often more than a foot long, and sometimes less than an inch thick, and pointed at both ends.” The ''Cucumis melo'' subspecies Chate was the most frequently encountered cucurbit in ancient Mediterranean images and texts, and was most likely the type of cucumber grown year-round for Emperor Tiberius of 1st century Rome. A study published in 2018 concluded that melon yields in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

can be improved by selection of local

landraces A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted, often traditional variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolation ...

. The study examined landraces collected from 42 fields, finding extensive variations in certain traits that could be cultivated to improve the local production.

References

External links

Plants for a Future database
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Fact sheet from the University of Florida (with photo)
Cucurbitoideae Fruit vegetables Flora of Armenia Flora of Azerbaijan Flora of Turkey Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{vegetable-stub