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Marah fabacea

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Photo by PalmBob.


The fruits and yellow flovers by Brother Alfred Brousseau, Calscape.org.


Photo from Watershednursery.com.

Author: Edward Lee Greene, 1910
Family:  CUCURBITACEAE
Origin:  California, Nevada; South-Western U.S.A.
Soil:  Mix
Water:  Medium
Sun:  Maximum
Thickness:  60 Centimetres
Height:  6 Meters
Flower:  Greenish Yellow - Cream - White
Propagate:  Seeds
Names:  California Manroot, Bigroot, Wild Cucumber
Synonyms:  Echinocystis fabacea, Charles Victor Naudin, 1859.
Echinocystis fabacea
var. agrestis, Congdon.
Echinocystis fabacea
var. inermis, Jeps.
Echinocystis inermis,
Congdon.
Echinocystis scabrida,
Eastw.
Marah fabacea var. agrestis,
Stocking.
Marah inermis,
Dunn.
Megarrhiza californica,
Torr.
Micrampelis fabacea,
Greene.
Micrampelis fabacea
var. agrestis, Greene.

This member of the Cucurbitaceae family was given this name by
Edward Lee Greene in 1910. It is found in south-western U.S.A., growing in a well drained soil with some water and some sun. The caudex can grow up to 60 centimetres in diameter, and it is said to grow very long: Two meters. The vines can reach six meters, the flowers are white, and the fruits filled with soft spikes.

The genera name might be from Latin amarus; 'bitter' for the taste of the roots. The species name for the inflorescence's  resemblance with Faba; broad bean.