Aardvark cucumber | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Cucurbitales |
Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
Genus: | Cucumis |
Species: | C. humifructus
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Binomial name | |
Cucumis humifructus |
Cucumis humifructus, the aardvark cucumber or aardvark pumpkin, is a kind of cucumber (family Cucurbitaceae) from southern and tropical Africa which fruits underground. It is a prostrate vine up to seven meters (22 feet) in length. It is reliant on the aardvark (Orycteropus afer) to eat the fruit in order to spread and re-bury the seeds of the plant. The species was described in 1927, with the name spelled C. humofructus,[1] but this is corrected to C. humifructus following the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.[2]