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iAardvark cucumber
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Cucurbitales Family: Cucurbitaceae Genus: Cucumis Species: C. humifructus
Binomial name
Cucumis humifructus

The aardvark cucumber (Cucumis humifructus), also known as aardvark pumpkin, is a kind of cucumber from Southern Africa which fruits underground. It is the only fruit eaten by aardvark, which normally feeds exclusively on ants and termites. Aardvarks eat the fruit for its water content, and propagate the seeds through their feces. The !Kung San bushmen of South Africa know the plant as aardvark dung.

[edit] External links

• Description in Flora Zambesiaca
• Aardvark and cucumber: a remarkable relationship

[edit] Literature

• van Rheede van Oudtshoorn, K. and van Rooyen, M.W. 1999. Dispersal Biology of Desert Plants. Adaptations of Desert Organisms. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.de:Cucumis humifructus