It's kind of viney and reminds me of a melon, but looks more like a chayote. Whazzat?
Spiny melon-ish plant in Ruckel Creek hanging meadows
Spiny melon-ish plant in Ruckel Creek hanging meadows
#pnw #bestlife #bitingflies #favoriteyellowcap #neverdispleased
Re: Spiny melon-ish plant in Ruckel Creek hanging meadows
Looks like wild cucumber, Echyosistis Lobata. They are not edible.
Marilyn
Marilyn
Re: Spiny melon-ish plant in Ruckel Creek hanging meadows
I agree that these are wild cucumber (aka big root) and they are not edible.
- adamschneider
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Re: Spiny melon-ish plant in Ruckel Creek hanging meadows
It's a kind of wild cucumber, yes, but if you found it growing wild in Oregon, it's probably Marah oreganus, not Echinocystis lobata.
Re: Spiny melon-ish plant in Ruckel Creek hanging meadows
Wild cucumber is probably too bitter for humans, but it is not toxic. I have often seen the fruits broken open and eaten by some creatures (birds, ground squirrels, coyotes?). It is also called manroot because its tubers are huge - it would be a good day's work to dig them out!
- Splintercat
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Re: Spiny melon-ish plant in Ruckel Creek hanging meadows
Which explains why it can survive out in the middle of Rowena Plateau (and other otherwise arid, vernal meadows).It is also called manroot because its tubers are huge - it would be a good day's work to dig them out!
Don't want to turn this thread blue, but "manroot" has a very specific euphemistic meaning in pulp romance fiction... not that I read that crap, mind you!
-Tom