Cucumber Flower
We started several cucumber plants but only this one survived and it seems quite healthy. This is a female flower. For more explanation see the detail below taken from a web site but edited.
Cucumbers, like most cucurbit plants, produce separate male and female flowers on the same plant. In botanical terms, these plants are said to be monoecious (translation, one-house). On monoecious plants, the male flowers contain stamens that produce pollen, while female flowers have pistils that contain the ovule. By contrast, plants, such as tomatoes and beans, produce “perfect” flowers that have both male and female parts present in the same flower.
Both male and female structures need to be present so that the pollen from the male flowers can fertilize the ovules in the female flowers to produce viable seed. Cucumber pollen is produced in a sticky mass and is not windblown. Hence, pollination requires the activity of insects that move pollen from male to female flowers, with bees being the most common pollinators. Once pollen has been deposited on the female flower, the pollen grains germinate and grow down the pollen-tubes to reach the ovules, where fertilization takes place.
As the fertilized ovules develop, hormones are released that stimulate the division and expansion of fruit cells. The development of cucumber fruit usually depends on the presence of an adequate number of fertilized seed within the developing fruit. Without enough fertilized seed, the fruit either aborts or becomes misshapen.
While wild-type cucumbers and older cucumber varieties are monoecious, cucumber varieties today can have flowering patterns that are monoecious or gynoecious. Many modern cucumber hybrids are gynoecious. Gynoecious varieties produce large numbers of female flowers and have a fairly concentrated flowering period. The female flowers of gynoecious varieties still need to be fertilized with pollen from male flowers, so a certain percentage of monoecious plants need to be planted along with the gynoecious plants to serve as pollenizers.
In addition to gynoecious and monoecious varieties, there is also a third type of cucumber variety, parthenocarpic varieties. Unlike the gynoecious and monoecious varieties, which require pollination to produce fruit, parthenocarpic varieties produce fruit without the need for pollination.
Parthenocarpic varieties are seedless, or nearly so, and the fruit develops in the absence of fertilized seed. These varieties can produce seed if pollinated. Therefore, parthenocarpic varieties should be spatially isolated from other types of cucumbers to keep the fruit seedless.
Cucumber Flower
We started several cucumber plants but only this one survived and it seems quite healthy. This is a female flower. For more explanation see the detail below taken from a web site but edited.
Cucumbers, like most cucurbit plants, produce separate male and female flowers on the same plant. In botanical terms, these plants are said to be monoecious (translation, one-house). On monoecious plants, the male flowers contain stamens that produce pollen, while female flowers have pistils that contain the ovule. By contrast, plants, such as tomatoes and beans, produce “perfect” flowers that have both male and female parts present in the same flower.
Both male and female structures need to be present so that the pollen from the male flowers can fertilize the ovules in the female flowers to produce viable seed. Cucumber pollen is produced in a sticky mass and is not windblown. Hence, pollination requires the activity of insects that move pollen from male to female flowers, with bees being the most common pollinators. Once pollen has been deposited on the female flower, the pollen grains germinate and grow down the pollen-tubes to reach the ovules, where fertilization takes place.
As the fertilized ovules develop, hormones are released that stimulate the division and expansion of fruit cells. The development of cucumber fruit usually depends on the presence of an adequate number of fertilized seed within the developing fruit. Without enough fertilized seed, the fruit either aborts or becomes misshapen.
While wild-type cucumbers and older cucumber varieties are monoecious, cucumber varieties today can have flowering patterns that are monoecious or gynoecious. Many modern cucumber hybrids are gynoecious. Gynoecious varieties produce large numbers of female flowers and have a fairly concentrated flowering period. The female flowers of gynoecious varieties still need to be fertilized with pollen from male flowers, so a certain percentage of monoecious plants need to be planted along with the gynoecious plants to serve as pollenizers.
In addition to gynoecious and monoecious varieties, there is also a third type of cucumber variety, parthenocarpic varieties. Unlike the gynoecious and monoecious varieties, which require pollination to produce fruit, parthenocarpic varieties produce fruit without the need for pollination.
Parthenocarpic varieties are seedless, or nearly so, and the fruit develops in the absence of fertilized seed. These varieties can produce seed if pollinated. Therefore, parthenocarpic varieties should be spatially isolated from other types of cucumbers to keep the fruit seedless.