1. They may be long and thin and green but cucumbers are actually a member of the (round, yellow, knobbly) gourd family.

2. Their Latin name is cucumis sativus.

3. They can grow up to 24 inches long.

4. It really is true – they are more than 90 per cent water.

5. Every year thousands of hives of honeybees are carted to cucumber farms to help with pollinating the vine-like plants.

6. In 2009 scientists finally sequenced the cucumber genome. They didn’t say why.

7. It’s claimed that China produces 60 per cent of the world’s cucumbers.

8. In the later 17th century, a prejudice developed against uncooked vegetables and fruits. A number of articles in contemporary health publications stated that uncooked plants brought on summer diseases and should be forbidden to children.

The cucumber kept this vile reputation for an inordinate period of time: “Fit only for consumption by cows”, it was said, which is why, some say, it gained the name, “cowcumber”.

9. According to The Natural History of Pliny by Pliny the Elder, the Roman emperor Tiberius had a cucumber daily on his table, winter and summer.

10. They are considered the height of genteel eating, forming part of the fare traditionally available at the Buckingham Palace garden party.

11. The Romans are reported to have used cucumbers to treat scorpion bites, bad eyesight, and to scare away mice. Wives wishing for children wore them around their waists. They were also carried by the midwives, and thrown away when the child was born.

12. The flesh of cucumbers is primarily composed of water but also contains ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and caffeic acid, both of which help soothe skin irritations and reduce swelling.

Cucumbers’ hard skin is rich in fibre and contains a variety of beneficial minerals including silica, potassium and magnesium. Cucumber juice is often recommended as a source of silica to improve the complexion and health of the skin.

13. In Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Algernon Moncreiff scoffs all the cucumber sandwiches then claims: “There were no cucumbers in the market this morning... not even for ready money.

14. They could be the first vegetables grown in space. Japanese Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa this week announced he was planning grow cucumbers during his stint on the International Space Station.

15. The Cucumber Grower’s Association was formed in November 2000 following an inaugural meeting at Stockbridge Technology Centre. It exists to ‘look after the collective interests of the UK cucumber industry and, where possible, anticipate and prepare for new challenges’. Indeed.