Cucumber

The cucumber is a widely cultivated creeping vine plant in the gourd family that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits used as culinary vegetables; grown as an annual, it comes in three main types, slicing, pickling and seedless. The cucumber originated in Asia, in a region spanning India, Nepal, Bangladesh, parts of China and northern Thailand, and it has been cultivated for at least 3,000 years, eaten year round by the Roman emperor Tiberius, grown for Charlemagne in the Middle Ages, and later brought to the Americas by the Spanish following Columbus. It now grows on most continents, with many different commercial types traded on the global market.