Marah macrocarpa (Greene) Greene

Wild-Cucumber
Cucurbitaceae

[Plants of San Diego County HOME]

Protologue: Leafl. Bot. Observ. Crit. 2: 36 (1910)
Pronunciation: Mà-rah ma-cro-cár-pa
Etymology: Reference to the bitter waters of Marah in the Bible, after intensely bitter roots, or an aboriginal name
+ with large fruits

Jepson eFlora Treatment

Jepson eFlora Key to Species (4 others in California)

SD County Synoptic Voucher


Distribution:
 
Left: S.D. County Plant Atlas (http://sdplantatlas.org). Right: CCH2. Click to see current herbarium records. 

 
Marah macrocarpa
Left: Vine growing in chaparral. Underground rootstock can get quite large. Leaves are palmately cleft.
Right: Close up of flowers, male above, female (with hairy, inferior ovary) below. Note scabrous leaf surface.



Marah macrocarpa
Fruits, immature. Inedible; you really don't want to put these in your cucumber salad.


Pronunciation

Cal Photos images

Google images