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Cucumis prophetarum
Also called Wild Cucumber
Cucumis prophetarum, known as wild cucumber, is a hairy, dioecious perennial vine from semi-desert bushland in Africa and the Middle East, grown mainly for its bitter edible fruit and leaves. It is grown outside its wild range only occasionally, so it is a specialist plant rather than a common garden crop.
Cucumis prophetarum is a dioecious and prostrate or climbing perennial vine in the family Cucurbitaceae. The specific epithet (prophetarum) comes from Latin propheta, meaning "prophet".
Cucumis prophetarum is native to Africa and the Middle East, from Mauritania east to the Horn of Africa and southwest to Angola then southeast to South Africa, as well as Israel south to Yemen and Oman and east to northwestern India. It has been introduced to Qatar. It grows wild in semi-desert bushland and grassland up to 6,594 feet (2,010 meters) in elevation, often with acacia trees.
The fruit has a bitter flavor when raw and is sometimes boiled or pickled and the leaves are cooked and served with a staple.
West Indian gherkin · Cucumis · Aardvark Cucumber · Cucumis hystrix · Cantaloupe · Armenian cucumber · Melon · African horned cucumber · Gooseberry gourd · Cucumber · Melon
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cucumis prophetarum by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
