How are cucumber varieties classified?

There are many existing classification methods of cucumber, including Kenxiong Fujii's comprehensive classification of system ecology and Jones' and Xiong Ze's classification (Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences,1989; Genetic Resources Branch of China Agricultural Society,1994; Xu Yong et al.,1995; Tan 1990).

(1) Classification of Kenxiong Fujii

1.A-a- 1, a rare variety in the west.

Open culture. The fruit is short and thick, with smooth surface and few tumors.

2.A-a-2 western varieties are used for acid leaching.

The former Soviet Union trained more. Fruit short ovoid, tuberculate.

3.A-a-3 Western greenhouse varieties

Nordic greenhouse cultivated varieties. Large fruit, thick meat and few seeds; Less thorns, falling off in young fruit stage, slightly wrinkled fruit surface, powdery.

4.b- Oriental South Asia type

The fruit is thick and short, with many tumors, and there are many female flowers under low temperature and short sunshine.

5.B-b Oriental North Asia type

The fruit is slender, with few seeds, prickly, low tumor, drought resistance, pest resistance, and can bear female flowers under long sunshine.

(2) Jones classification

Jones divided European and American cucumber varieties into three categories.

1. British greenhouse types

Late-maturing varieties cultivated in greenhouse in northern Europe. The fruit is oblong, about 60cm long, with black thorns, strong growth potential, strong parthenocarpy, few seeds and weak disease resistance, so it is not suitable for open cultivation.

2. Paper type

Open cultivation in Europe and America. Strong branches, no nodes, fruit length of about 20cm, no disease resistance, smooth surface, thick meat, average quality and many thorns.

3. Kimchi type

The processing sketch population was cultivated in the former Soviet Union and the United States, and the population differentiation was obvious. Leaves are small, internodes are long, branches are strong, and there are many nodes. The fruit is short oval or cylindrical, about 5 cm long, and it is not resistant to diseases and has black thorns. It is used for processing.

(3) Kumazawa classification

Xiong Ze divided the cucumbers in the East into two categories.

1. South Asia type

Mainly distributed in south-central China, Southeast Asia and Japan. Thick leaves, thick branches, dense roots, certain drought tolerance, sensitivity to temperature and sunshine length, stout fruit, poor quality, black or prickly.

2. North China type

Internodes and petioles are long, leaves are thin, and heat and disease resistance are strong. It grows slowly at low temperature and weak light, and is insensitive to the length of sunlight. The root system is weak, with few branches, and it is not tolerant to drought and transplantation. The fruit is big, slender, spiny, green, thin-skinned, tender and of good quality.

(4) Tan Mengqi classification

On the basis of the above classification, Tan classified cucumbers into the following categories according to their distribution areas and ecological characteristics (Tan, 1980).

1. North China series

Mainly distributed in northern China, Korea, Japan and other places. Most plants grow vigorously, like the natural conditions of wet soil and sunny weather, and are insensitive to the length of sunshine. The tender fruit is rod-shaped and green, and the fruit grows. The melon shape index is above 8, and most of them are non-nodal. There is little difference in the node rate of female flowers under different sunshine lengths. Mature melons are mostly yellow, light yellow or yellow-white, and the surface reticulation is rare. Most of them have white thorns, few or no thorns, and most of them have horns. The first female flower is planted in 4-5 nodes or more, which is late-maturing and has strong disease resistance.

(1) Early-maturing pumpkin has weak heat resistance and disease resistance. The first female flower has a low node position and a strong node position, with the mother vine as the main part and the melon short and small. Such as Ye Er Sanshui Cucumber and Changchun Mitz.

(2) Cucurbitaceae are mostly middle-late maturing. Disease resistance is weak, but there are also strong ones. Non-festival, mostly melon on the mother vine. Fruit surface prickles have horns. Such as Ningyang big thorn melon and Gongzhuling water melon.

(3) Most of the cut melons are mid-late ripening. Strong disease resistance. Nodeless, strong branching, less female flowers on the mother vine, more flowers on the son vine or more female vines. There are fewer thorns and more burrs on the fruit surface. Such as Beijing cut melon, Dabacha, Tianjin Sajia melon, etc.

(4) Most of the whipping beetles are middle-late maturing varieties. Strong disease resistance and heat resistance, suitable for delayed cultivation or autumn melon cultivation. Nodeless, medium-branched, and most of the mother vines and daughter vines bear melons. The fruit surface is smooth or has only a few thorns, the peel is often a little thicker, the pulp is thicker and the quality is poor. Such as Beijing big whip melon.

(5) The varieties of processed pickles are highly feminized under long sunshine, and 3 ~ 6 female flowers are often clustered in the same section. Such as Jiupai Qiugua and Fangsheng Liangkuai.

(6) Generally, greenhouse cultivated products have weak heat resistance, cold resistance and drought resistance, but strong shade resistance, and strong ability to form female flowers under high temperature and short sunshine. Large leaves, high parthenocarpy rate, few melon seeds and long melon strips. Most of them are female vines and do not knot. Such as Beijing big thorn melon, Beijing small thorn melon, Shandong small thorn and so on.

2. South China type

It is mainly distributed in the south of the Yangtze River valley in China, India, Japan and Southeast Asia, but some cultivated cucumbers and dried cucumbers in the north may also belong to this system. Damp-heat-tolerant, short-lived plants. Generally, the growth potential of plants is weak, the fruit is short, and the melon shape index is between 4 and 6. Most fruits have no edges, few thorns, mostly black thorns, thick skin and thin flesh. Some varieties are slightly bitter and have many knots. Mature melons are mostly brown with reticular surface, and the first female flower is located in a low position, most of which are early mature, weak in disease resistance and strong in heat resistance. The system can be divided into the following categories:

Most (1) nodes are precocious, and the mother vine bears melons and black thorns. Such as Shanghai Xiang Yang cucumber, Nanjing Chating early cucumber, Kunming early cucumber, Guangzhou Qing Er, Wuhan herring gall, Japanese evergreen, etc.

(2) Non-fruiting species are mostly medium-ripe, with strong branches and prickles or black thorns, and some varieties of melon strips are more than 30cm long.

(3) The processed sauce products have dense pulp, less thorns, more female flowers and high fruit yield.

3. South Asia type

Distributed all over South Asia. The stems and leaves are stout and easy to branch, and the fruit is large, with a single fruit weight of 1 ~ 5 kg. The fruit is short or long cylindrical, with light skin color, sparse tumors, black or white thorns, thick skin and light taste. I like hot and humid, and I am strict with short sunshine. There are many local varieties, such as Sikkim cucumber, China Xishuangbanna cucumber and Zhaotong cucumber.

4. Western acid immersion type

Most varieties of the former Soviet Union belong to this system. Melon shape is short, melon shape index is about 2 ~ 4, there are no prickles or few, most of them are highly branched, mainly on vines, and mature fruits are brown and reticulate.

5. Western rare types

It is also divided into outdoor cultivation products and greenhouse varieties.

(1) Open-field cucumbers in Europe and America are all over Europe and North America. Lush stems and leaves, cylindrical fruit, medium size, sparse tumor, Nitraria tangutorum, light taste, mature fruit light yellow or yellowish brown. There are varieties from Eastern Europe, Northern Europe and North America.

(2) The greenhouse cucumbers in Northern Europe are distributed in Britain and Holland. Lush stems and leaves, low temperature and weak light resistance, smooth and light green fruit surface, fruit more than 50cm. Such as British greenhouse cucumber, Dutch greenhouse cucumber and so on

In addition to geographical distribution and ecological characteristics, varieties can be divided into winter and spring protected land type, spring open field type and summer and autumn open field type according to the cultivation methods they adapt to. According to the cold tolerance of varieties, they can be divided into cold-sensitive type, intermediate type and cold-resistant type; According to the sensitivity of variety differentiation to sunshine length, it can be divided into short sunshine type, sunshine insensitive type and long sunshine type.

The above main classification, some for varieties in some areas, some for varieties all over the world. Some groups are endemic to some areas, while others are widely distributed. There are also cases where the classification and attribution of minority groups are inconsistent. In short, the classification of the following groups is less controversial:

1. European greenhouse types

The varieties suitable for greenhouse cultivation formed in Britain are mainly distributed in Britain, Netherlands, Spain, Romania and other eastern European regions. Low temperature and weak light tolerance, lush stems and leaves, but poor growth in the open field. The fruit is smooth, bright green, cylindrical, more than 50 ~ 60 cm long, and the meat is dense and fragrant. Strong parthenocarpy, few seeds and weak disease resistance are not suitable for open cultivation.

2. European and American open-air type

Distributed in Europe and North America, suitable for open cultivation. Plants grow vigorously and have many branches. Fruit is about 20cm long, cylindrical, thick, smooth, thick and tasteless. There are many varieties of Nitraria tangutorum, and there are also varieties of Nitraria tangutorum. Nitraria varieties turn yellow-red when they mature, and black thorn varieties are yellow-brown. Moderate disease resistance. There are varieties from Eastern Europe, Northern Europe and North America.

3. North China type

It differentiated and formed in North China of China, and spread to Central Asia, Northeast China, Korea and Japan. These plants have moderate growth potential. They like wet soil and sunny weather. Root groups are shallow in distribution, with few branches, and are not resistant to transplanting and drying. Most varieties have strong heat resistance, resistance to powdery mildew and downy mildew, and immunity to CMV. Female flower node rate is generally high, and it is not very sensitive to the length of sunshine. The fruit is slender, rod-shaped, green with thorns, dense thorns, thin skin, crisp meat and good quality. Mature melons turn yellow and have no nets. Such as many local varieties in North China: Changchun Mici, Anyang Cigua, Tangshan Qiugua, Beijing Luffa Green, etc.

4. South China type

South China is the center in China, and it is distributed in Southeast Asia, China, Central China and Japan. Stems and vines are stout, leaves are thick and big, roots are dense and strong, drought-resistant, and can adapt to low temperature and weak light. The node position of female flower is sensitive to temperature and sunshine length, and it is a short-day plant. The fruit is short and thick, the skin is hard, the taste is light, and the meat quality is worse than that of North China varieties. Most of them are black thorns, but there are also varieties of Nitraria. The fruit is green, white and yellow-white, and the seed coat is reticulate. For example, many local varieties in South China and Central China: Qing Er in Guangzhou, Xiang Yang in Shanghai, Herring Gallbladder in Wuhan, Zizyphus jujuba in Chengdu, Early Cucumber in Kunming, Evergreen in Japan, Xiangmo Banbai and so on.

5. Processing type

There are two kinds of processed cucumbers, western pickling type and China sauce type, which mainly refer to small fruit population for processing. In the United States, the former Soviet Union and China, they all differentiated into their own varieties. These varieties have short plants, small leaves, strong branching, many fruits, and short oval or cylindrical fruits. Generally, the fruit will be harvested when it grows to 5cm. Most of them are black thorns, but there are also varieties of Nitraria. The meat is dense, crisp and tender, with thick flesh, small tumor and fine thorns that are easy to fall off. Suitable for pickles and canned food.

There is some confusion about the classification of "wild type" and "South Asia type" cucumbers. Hardy garlic and Sikkim garlic distributed near India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and other places of origin are mostly classified as "wild type". However, some people classify garlic as a variety. Xishuangbanna is "wild type" and others are "South Asia type". There are many kinds of cucumbers in Xishuangbanna, China, some are semi-wild, some are escaped, and some are cultivated by local farmers, so they are called "mountain cucumbers". Because this cucumber variety is still in the natural and primitive cultivation state, whether it is classified as "wild type" remains to be discussed.

Some classifications include "South Asia type" and "South China type", while others are divided into two categories. The relationship between these two categories remains to be determined.

In recent decades, with the natural or artificial hybridization between populations and varieties, some new variation types have been formed or many new varieties and hybrids have been cultivated. At present, many varieties may have multiple lineages, and some are obviously in the middle type, so it is difficult to classify them into which category.