Common Name: Gherkin

General Information

Cucumis anguria is an annual plant producing sprawling, slender stems up to 3 metres long. These stems usually sprawl over the ground, but can climb into other plants for support, attaching themselves by means of tendrils.
The plant is harvested from the wild, or more commonly cultivated, for its edible fruits and leaves and also for various medicinal uses. The fruits are often traded.
The plant is an invasive weed in parts of North America and in Australia, and a serious weed in peanut fields of the southern United States[].

Known Hazards

The sprouting seed produces a toxic substance in its embryo[].

Botanical References

Range

Probably originated in Tropical America but not known in a truly wild condition. Possibly a cultigen.

Habitat

Not known in a truly wild situation.

Properties

Weed Potential	Yes
Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual Climber
Height	1.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Self-fertile	Yes
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Cucumis anguria is cultivated mainly in the tropics and subtropics, though it can also succeed in regions of the temperate zone with long, hot summers. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 21 - 28°c, but can tolerate 8 - 32°c[]. The plant cannot tolerate frost. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 800 - 1,000mm, but tolerates 300 - 1,700mm[].
Requires a rich, well-drained moisture retentive soil and a warm very sunny position[]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7.5, tolerating 5.5 - 8.3[]. It prefers warm, moderate humid conditions. It is sensitive to cold, susceptible to fungal diseases, and attacked by aphids and cucumber beetles[].
The fruits can be harvested 40 - 80 days from sowing the seed or planting out[].
There are two main forms of the plant, the wilder form that has a bitter taste and a cultivated form that is more or less free of the bitterness[]. There are many named varieties of the non-bitter form.
The plant is believed to be derived in cultivation from the tropical Brazilian species C. Longipes. Hook.[]

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw, cooked or pickled[, , , , ]. The best forms have a very agreeable cucumber flavour without any bitterness[, ]. It can be used in salads or as part of a savoury dish. The fruit is frequently soaked in vinegar to make a pickle, it absorbs a large quantity of vinegar[]. The ovoid to oblong, yellow fruit is up to 5cm long and 4cm wide, produced on a long stalk[, ].

Seed - raw. Rich in oil with a nutty flavour but very fiddly because it is rather small and covered with a fibrous seedcoat[, , ].

Young leaves - cooked[, ]. In Africa the leaves of bitter forms are more likely to be eaten[].

Medicinal

The seeds are vermifuge[]. They are ground into a fine flour, then made into an emulsion with water and eaten. It is then necessary to take a purge in order to expel the tapeworms or other parasites from the body[].

The fruit is eaten to treat jaundice[]. Eating the fruits raw is believed to dissolve kidney stones[].
The juice of the fruit, mixed with oil, is applied to contusions[]. The fruit is applied to haemorrhoids[].

An enema of the wild plant is used to treat stomach pains[].

The leaves, after being steeped in vinegar, are used against ringworm[].
A leaf juice preparation is applied to freckles[].

A decoction of the roots is used as a remedy for stomach troubles and to reduce oedema[].

Other Uses

Bitter forms of the plant are sometimes used as a natural pesticide in stored crops[].
The juice of the fruit is reportedly used as an antifeedant in granaries[].

Propagation

Seed - sow early to mid spring in a greenhouse in a rich soil. Germination should take place within 2 weeks. Sow 2 or 3 seeds per pot and thin out to the best plant. Grow them on fast and plant out after the last expected frosts, giving them cloche or frame protection for at least their first few weeks if you are trying them outdoors.