Wild Cucumber
Marah fabacea
Like other manroot species, the California Manroot has a stout, woolly stem with snaking tendrils. Long climbing vines emerging from the large, tuberous root can reach a length of 6 meters. The whitish green stem and vine are covered with dark green leaves with five wide, shallow lobes. However, this is just a typical leaf appearance; the leaves and lobe length can have great variety. During the winter and spring, the vines are dotted with small flowers, varying in color from yellowish green to cream to white. Each small flower has 5-6 fused petals. The manroot’s spherical fruit is 4-5 cm in diameter and covered in prickles up to 1 cm long. Unripe fruits are bright green, swelling in size and ripening to yellow in early summer.
Basic Information
Member of the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes cucumbers and pumpkins
perennial herb and vine
Hybrids between California manroot and the other native Californian manroot species are common because of this plant’s wide range
Habitat
Native to most of California, as well as adjacent sections of Arizona and Baja California
Common in riparian ecosystems including stream sides and washes, as well as in open places, such as chaparral, hillsides, and wide oak woodlands
The range of the California Manroot subsumes the entire ranges of nearly all the other native Californian manroots species and intergrades
Ecological Role
Pollinated by insects
Nectar source for the green hairstreak butterfly (Callophrys rubi)
Reproduction
Blooms from late February-June
Vines appear in late winter in response to increased rainfall
The manroot’s flowers are monoecious, meaning that both male and female flowers can be found on the same plant
Male flowers appear in open clusters
Female flowers appear individually and are distinguished by a swollen base
This plant is self-fertile with pollen from the male flowers fertilizing the female flowers on the same plant; however, the plant is also pollinated by insects.
The seed capsule, which contains 4 or more large seeds, explosively bursts as it matures
This explosion is called a ballochory
Alternative Names
California Manroot, Coast Wild Cucumber, Wild-cucumber
Historical Uses
The tubers were crushed and thrown into surface waters by native tribes like the Kumeyaay, and Kashaya Pomo to immobilize fish in streams and tide pools
The tubers contain megharrhin, a saponin-like glucoside. Saponins are an organic chemical that lower water’s surface tension by allowing the formation of bubbles. Likely the megharrhin enters the fish's circulation through the gills, where only a single-cell wall separates the water from the animal’s red blood cells. The oxygen-deprived fish then float to the surface, stunned
Soap plant, snowberries, and buckeyes were used similarly
Seeds also used for decoration or ground to make face paint and mascara
The Kashaya Pomo applied a mixture of pounded raw root, pounded California bay fruit, and skunk grease to the scarp to prevent baldness
Fruit used as a purgative
Additional Information
All parts of plant are poisonous
All parts of the plant have a bitter taste, which warranted the genus name Marah, which means bitter in Hebrew
