#manroot

The manroot is a fast-growing vine that produces small white flowers. The fruit is about the size of an avocado, and yes, the thorns can be quite sharp. Normally you see one or two close together; it’s unusual, in my experience, to see a string of them like this.

Ipomoea pandurata / Wild Potato Vine at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, NC

Panax quinquefolius - Ginseng.   What happens for pollination in wild populations in forests appears murky.  Interestingly it blooms in June/July well after almost every other plant has finished blooming.  The literature indicates that its likely to be getting some cross pollination from Lasioglossums and Flies.  I am voting more for the flies.  Photo and specimen by Helen Lowe Metzman. 

California manroot - Marah fabacea

Source: Wikipedia

Wild cucumber #marahmacrocarpus the trailing vine with maple like leaves , small creamy star shaped flowers and spiny inedible fruit. Also called California Man Root because of its enormous root that is often large enough to resemble a human corpse. #wildcucumber #manroot #californianativeplants #californianativewildflowers #flowerpower🌸 #plantnativeplants #killyourlawn @josephbrooksjewelry (at Charmlee Wilderness Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca7XAFkLyeS/?utm_medium=tumblr

Marah macrocarpa is a member of the manroot family native to a relatively small region covering southern California and Baja California. While other species of Marah exist outside this range, macrocarpa is adapted to drier climates in which a large tuber lies dormant until seasonal rainfall triggers the rapid growth of sprawling vines. Like other members of Curcubitaceae it is monoecious (male and female flowers occur separately on the same plant) and once pollinated the base of the female flower swells into the fruit. The fruit is covered in spines which when dry are actually quite vicious. This specimen demonstrates a degree of the natural variability within the species, showing almost absurdly pronounced spines.