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Cucumber
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<p>The cucumber (<i>Cucumis sativus</i>) is a widely-cultivated <a href="/facts/Vine/3nVRIAws">creeping vine</a> plant in the family <a href="/facts/Cucurbitaceae/dwD6tNcQ">Cucurbitaceae</a> that bears cylindrical to spherical <a href="/facts/Fruit/PBpuzk60">fruits</a>, which are used as <a href="/facts/Culinary_vegetable/j3AlDG64">culinary vegetables</a>. Considered an annual plant, there are three main types of cucumber—slicing, <a href="/facts/Pickled_cucumber/jKPULB4u">pickling</a>, and <a href="/facts/Seedless_fruit/00TjmXmF">seedless</a>—within which several <a href="/facts/Cultivar/nfaLJJM3">cultivars</a> have been created. The cucumber originates in <a href="/facts/Asia/4IToYrrQ">Asia</a> extending from <a href="/facts/India/1kKHcnxM">India</a>, <a href="/facts/Nepal/yWCzTBR2">Nepal</a>, <a href="/facts/Bangladesh/NXk4f78Y">Bangladesh</a>, <a href="/facts/China/lTjIXY5p">China</a> (<a href="/facts/Yunnan/Q924cyfE">Yunnan</a>, <a href="/facts/Guizhou/BWxNrucU">Guizhou</a>, <a href="/facts/Guangxi/1BIHzs3q">Guangxi</a>), and <a href="/facts/Northern_Thailand/M5MqhaM0">Northern Thailand</a>, but now grows on most <a href="/facts/Continent/Pysd9Sw8">continents</a>, and many different types of cucumber are grown commercially and traded on the <a href="/facts/Global_market/6RfCU3fH">global market</a>. In <a href="/facts/North_America/djNjCQIl">North America</a>, the term <i><a href="/facts/Wild_cucumber/5PMVBMTW">wild cucumber</a></i> refers to plants in the <a href="/facts/Genus/m8EFjSms">genera</a> <i><a href="/facts/Echinocystis/Ef9WqDrJ">Echinocystis</a></i> and <i><a href="/facts/Marah_(plant)/DNT8YTsD">Marah</a></i>, though the two are not closely related. </p>