cucumber and marrow

Well, WikiAnswers says: It is technically a fruit. From a botanical perspective, a fruit is the mature ovary of a plant, such as an apple, melon, cucumber, or tomato. From the common, every day \"grocery store perspective,\" we tend to use the word fruit with respect to fruits eaten fresh as desserts - apples, peaches, cherries, etc. - and not to items cooked or used in salads. So, cucumbers tend to be lumped in with vegetables because of the way they are used (cooked and in salads), but botanists will call them fruits because they develop from the reproductive structures of plants. From the Cornell Department of Horticulture.
As for Marrows: Marrow squash is a fruit. Marrow bean is a vegetable.
Hope this helps!! Dawn

i don't fancy marrow or indeed cucumber in my fruit salad - but as you say, Dawn, they are fruits. Maybe we should add tomatoes to the list too - at least they would be colourful - but can you imagine them all with sugar and cream with strawberries, raspberries, cherries etc! UGH!

Yet rhubarb is a vegetable. Could you imagine this in your soups or casseroles?