*''Echinocystis macrocarpa *''Micrampelis leptocarpa. ''Marah macrocarpa'' (sometimes spelled ''Marah macrocarpus''), known as chilicothe, wild cucumber, manroot or bigroot is a species of plant in the genus '' Marah''.Calflora: ''Marah macrocarpa''
. accessed March 8, 2016.

Description

''Marah macrocarpa'' has the most pubescent shoots, stems, and leaves of all the ''Marah'' species native to California - this being consistent with its range having the most xeric climate. Vines appear in late winter in response to increased rainfall, and can climb or scramble to a length of . The subspecies M. m. major of the

Channel Islands (California) The Channel Islands () are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The four Northern Channel Islands are part of the Transverse Ranges geologic province, and ...

is about twice as large in all of its parts. For example,the mainland leaves are 5 to 10 centimeters wide while the insular leaves are 15 to 25 centimeters in width. And the seeds on the mainland are 15 to 20 millimeters long while the insular seeds are 28 to 33 millimeters in length. Vines emerge from a large, hard

tuberous root Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

which can reach several meters in length and weigh in excess of . Weights of up to 500 pounds (227 kilograms) have been reported. Vines develop leaves and, particularly, flowers and fruit very quickly, often with the first nodes of the quick-growing vines containing male and female flower heads. Its leaves typically have five lobes with individual plants showing wide variation in leaf size and lobe length. ;Flower The flower can vary in color from yellowish green to cream to white. Flowers appear soon after the vine emerges. The flowers are

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system alongside gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy. Monoecy is conne ...

, that is, individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant. Male flowers appear in open clusters while females flowers, distinguished by a swollen base, usually appear individually. The plant is self-fertile, i.e. pollen from the male flowers can fertilise the female flowers on the same plant; pollination is by

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s. ;Fruit The fruit is longer than it is wide, 5–6 cm in diameter and 15–20 cm long, and covered in prickles of variable density, up to 1 cm long but without hooks. Unripe fruit are bright green, ripening to yellow. The fruit swells as it ripens until finally rupturing and releasing the large seeds. Fruit begin to form in late winter and ripen by early summer. ;Seeds and germination Seeds of ''Marah macrocarpa'' are large, hard, and very smooth. Southern California manroot has larger, longer seeds than the other manroot species except for ''

Marah horridus ''Marah horridus'', common name Sierra manroot, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, endemic to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and the Tehachapi Mountains in California. It grows in open and shrubby areas below eleva ...

''. Fruits usually hold four or more seeds. Seeds sprout in the cool wetness of late winter. Seeds have an intriguing germination process. The initial shoot emerges from the seed and grows downward into the earth. This shoot then splits, one part beginning to swell and form the tuber, while the second part grows back to the surface and becomes the vine.

Taxonomy

Three varieties were formerly recognised: *''Marah macrocarpa'' var. ''macrocarpas'' *''Marah macrocarpa'' var. ''major'' *''Marah macrocarpa'' var. ''micrantha''

Distribution

The plant is native to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. Its range extends from the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa B ...

and

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

through the

Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges (also called the Lower California province) are a group of mountain ranges that stretch from Southern California to the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula; they are part of the North American Coast Ranges, which ...

. It grows by streams, in washes, and on slopes in

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

and

oak woodland An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the ...

s, at elevations up to . It will tolerate a variety of soil types and acidities, but it requires seasonally moist soil. Vines can grow in full-sun to partially shaded conditions. It emerges soon after winter rains begin, grows until late spring, and dies back completely in the heat and dryness of summer.

Uses

All parts of the plant have a bitter taste (this is the meaning of the genus name ''Marah'', which comes from

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

). Despite this, the leaves have been used as a vegetable. The large tuber of the manroot can be processed for a soap-like extract.

References

External links

UC CalPhotos gallery: ''Marah macrocarpa''
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q17430121, from2=Q6754651 Cucurbitoideae Flora of California Flora of Baja California Flora without expected TNC conservation status