Cucumis sativus

De Wilde, Willem J. J. O. & Duyfjes, Brigitta E. E., 2007, The wild species of Cucumis L. (Cucurbitaceae) in South-East Asia, Adansonia (3) 29 (2), pp. 239-248 : 246-247

4. Cucumis sativus L.

Species Plantarum ed. 1: 1012 (1753). — Keraudren, Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêt-nam 15: 71 (1975). — J. H. Kirkbride, Biosystematic Monograph of the Genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) : 84 (1993). — Type: cultivated, Herb. Burser XVII: 97 (lecto-, UPS, designated by Ten Pas et al. 1985: 290).

Cucumis sativus L. var. hardwickii (Royle) Alef., Landwirtschaftliche Flora: 196 (1866). — C. Jeffrey, The Cucurbitaceae of Eastern Asia: 23 (1980a). — J. H. Kirkbride, Biosystematic Monograph of the Genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaceae) : 86 (1993). — Cucumis hardwickii Royle, Illustrations of the Botany of the Himalayan Mountains 1: 220 (1839); 2: pl. 47: 3 (1839). — Type: Royle s.n. (LIV, not seen).

REMARKS

The origin of the cultivated, very variable, Cucumis sativus with numerous cultivars is unknown, but possibly it is from northern India, the same area as the wild variety, var. hardwickii , which is supposed to be the ancestor of cultivated cucumbers.

Four species names of Cucumis and one variety from SE Asia have been placed in the synonymy of C. sativus by Kirkbride (1993), i.e. C. hardwickii Royle (1839) , C. muricatus Willd. (1805) , C.? rumphii Hassk. (1866), C. setosus Cogn. (1881) , and C. sativus L. var. sikkimensis Hook. f. (1876). We agree with this synonymy, except for hardwickii which we retain as the wild variety. Furthermore, we are not sure that the inclusion of C. setosus is warranted. This latter species is known by only two old collections from NW India, with the habit strongly deviating from C. sativus , and we feel that this needs further study.

Cucumis sativus var. hardwickii , the wild variety, was accepted by Jeffrey (1980a) and Kirkbride (1993) as occurring in NE India, Nepal, S China, Myanmar and Thailand, but we cannot confirm its occurrence in Thailand. Records of wild growing mostly sterile specimens from Thailand, identified by Kirkbride (1993) as C. sativus , appear to represent sterile C. hystrix .

Plants of C. sativus var. hardwickii are generally distinct in being more delicate, with bitter fruits, but appear to link up in their morphological characters with the cultivated var. sativus (with many cultivars). However, the two botanical varieties have their own isozyme patterns ( Knerr & Staub 1991; Kirkbride 1993: 86).

According to Kirkbride (1993) the length of the female flower- and fruiting-pedicel in C. sativus is 2-18(-20) mm and 1.5-3 cm respectively. However, specimens annotated as spontaneously growing in a garden in S India, from an unknown collector, 2030 b (L), 2050 (L, W), and 2050 a (L) and identified by Kirkbride in 1991 as Cucumis sativus L., all have c. 6 cm long female flower- and fruitingpedicels. The status of these deviating specimens remains uncertain.