Carlton CarnivoresA new fruit finally appears!<br>
Though I had the vine first growing in the greenhouse in winter, only now has it begun to get properly pollinated and make fruit: Cucumis dipsaceus, the Hedgehog or Arabian Cucumber. As the name suggests it’s native to the Arabian Peninsula, as well as northeastern Africa, and like other plants in the genus tends to grow as a scrambling ground over vine or trailing up nearby vegetation and supports. Also like its relatives it makes separate male and female flowers, and they have to both be open and visited by a pollinator to set fruit.<br>
Though called a cucumber…this plant is generally not considered to have edible fruits. They can be eaten when very young and green however tend to have a bitter side to them, which only gets stronger as they ripen and turn yellow. Cooking can reduce this somewhat, though will also often liquefy the fruit. The bristles, though soft until maturity, also tend to make for an odd texture.<br>
On the other hand, young shoots and leaves are regularly eaten as a cooked vegetable or powdered into a thickening agent.<br>
This is only the first of hopefully several odd cucurbits to make themselves known, which Burr Gherkins, Kabocha Squash, and others also starting to finally fruit out.<br>
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