Scientific Family
Cucurbitaceae
Synonyms
Echinocystis gilensis
Other common names
bigroot
manroot
wild cucumber
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Perennial
Height
To 6 feet twining
Riparian
Yes
Male flower and female flowers on the same plant; usually grows under mesquite trees or large shrub; foliage dies back in the fall and sprouts again from the tuber in the spring. Easy to distinguish from other plants due its spiny pepo (fruit).
Perennial from large tuberous root; slender stems; coiled climbing tendrils; green leaf blades hairless below, rough above; 3 to 7 pointed to rounded lobes; star-shaped flowers with 5 round-tipped lobes; flowers are followed by round, spiny, green melons.
Habitat
Found in canyons and in hillside thickets, especially along streams.
Plant Community
Riparian
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
0
High elevation
5000
Flower Characteristics
Unisex flowers in simple or compound clusters; white petals; 1/4 to 1/2 inch broad; soft, short hairs outside; granules on stalk; 3 stamens on male flower; fine hairs and glands on ovary of female flower; prickly; wider than long; solitary.
Flower color
White
Flower shape
Regular
Tubular
No
First bloom month
February
Last bloom month
April
Flower clusters
Rounded
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves thin, hairless below, somewhat rough above with scattered circular appendages, blades 1 to 3 inches long; 3 to 7 rounded to pointed lobes; sharp, broad notch at tip; stalk 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches long, grooved, hairless.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Round or oval
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Pepo (fleshy, watery fruit with many seeds and firm rind); 1/16 to 1/8 inch long and wide; 2 to 4 cells; 2 to 4 seeds; somewhat succulent when green, becoming dry; covered with dense stiff bristles or spines; globe-shaped.
Fruit type
Other
Fruit color
Yellowish-green
2 to 4 seeds, rounded, slightly compresssed.