Armenian cucumber

The Qur’ānic name qaththā translates as ‘Armenian cucumber’ and appears once in the Qur’ān as one of the vegetables the people asked Moses for when they were led out of Egypt. There were five vegetables they longed for: cucumber, watermelon, leek, onion and garlic.

Qaththā is now believed to refer to the snake melon or snake gourd rather than cucumber. Native to Asia, these plants spread to East Africa more than 5,000 years ago, where they became a popular cultivated crop in ancient Egypt.

The Armenian cucumber, Cucumis melo var. flexuosus, is a long, slender fruit which looks and tastes like a cucumber to which it is related to.

Painted from specimens found at the Islamic Botanic Garden in Sharjah, UAE, and in Dubai. The artist also grew the plant from seed in New Zealand.

Completed painting size: 79 x 59cm

Fruit variety natural size, Main painting of flower x 6, dissection of flower x 4
Watercolour on paper