Vegetables & garden · Cucumis sativus
Discovering cucumbers
Flauschi spots a curled tendril. Flauschi“The plant has a tiny handle.”
The short answer
Cucumbers grow on climbing plants that can hold on with tendrils. The cucumber develops from a flower and may contain seeds depending on variety. In cooking it is a vegetable; botanically it is a fruit.
An imagined Wusel scene
Puschel and Flauschi investigate
Flauschi spots a curled tendril. Flauschi“The plant has a tiny handle.”
Puschel raises a paw and pretends to hold on too. He leaves the tendril alone. A cucumber hangs from the support.
Flauschi“You do not need a plant handle,” Flauschi laughs. Flauschi“You have feet.” Puschel plants both firmly on the path.
Discover
Cucumbers grow on vining plants. Thin tendrils can grip a support.
Understand
The edible cucumber is a fruit. Female flowers have a tiny developing fruit; some greenhouse varieties can form fruit without pollination.
Connections
Cucumbers need warmth and a steady water supply. There are varieties for greenhouses and for growing outdoors.
Try explaining it
How does a cucumber plant hold onto a support?
Choose a), b) or c), then explain your choice.
- a)With thin tendrils.
- b)With clinging roots growing directly from the fruits.
- c)With the fruit stalk itself winding around the support.
Show the explanation
Correct: a): With thin tendrils.
Tendrils are thin plant parts that can coil around suitable supports.
Word help
- cell
- A tiny living unit. Living things are made of cells.
- pollen
- Fine powder from flowers. Pollination carries it to a suitable flower’s receiving surface. It is not a plant seed.
- pollination
- Pollen reaches a flower’s receiving surface, the stigma. Further processes can then lead to seeds.
- stigma
- The part of a flower where pollen can land.
- fertilisation
- A male reproductive cell joins an egg cell. This is a different step from moving pollen.
- parthenocarpy
- Fruit develops without fertilisation, as in some cucumber varieties.
Explore in more detail
Here you will find longer explanations and further details. You can explore them together.
Why does not every cucumber have mature seeds?
A cucumber fruit develops from a female flower. In many plants, seed formation requires pollination and fertilisation. Some cultivated cucumber varieties can form fruit without fertilisation. This is called parthenocarpy. A fruit without mature seeds is therefore not necessarily damaged. Pollination transfers pollen to a flower’s stigma. Fertilisation joins a male reproductive cell with an egg cell. Reproductive cells are special cells involved in producing offspring.
Compare and understand
Cucumbers are usually eaten before their seeds fully mature. Culinary harvest and maturity for seed production are different stages. Compare known prepared cucumber pieces with a photograph of a fully mature fruit. Do not eat unusually bitter cucurbits; adults select the food.
An optional question for further exploration
You can use the longer explanation above. This is extra, not needed for the first quiz.
An extra question
Must every greenhouse cucumber be pollinated by an insect?
Show answer
No. Some greenhouse varieties form fruit without pollination. Other varieties need pollination; it depends on the variety.