Manroot
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| Manroots | ||||||||||||
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Marah fabaceus |
The Manroots or Wild cucumbers are the genus Marah of flowering plants in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae. They are native to western North America.
These are perennial plants, growing from a large tuber. Most have stout, scabrous or hairy stems, with coiling tendrils that enable them to climb up other plants; they can also grow rapidly across level ground. Their leaves tend to have multiple lobes, up to 7 in some species.
Fruits of plants in the genus Marah are striking and easily recognised. They are large, and spherical, oval or cylindrical. At a minimum they are 3cm in diameter, but can be up to 20cm long, and in many species they are covered in long spines.
The name "Marah" comes from a Hebrew word meaning "bitter", and was given because all parts of these plants tend to have a bitter taste.
Some authors include the man-roots in genus Echinocystis. Considered as a separate genus, however, it includes six or seven species, some of them with well-defined varieties within them.
Species in genus Marah
- California Manroot, Marah fabaceus
- Marah fabaceus var. agrestis
- Marah fabaceus var. fabaceus
- Gila Manroot, Marah gilensis
- Sierra Manroot, Marah horridus
- Cucamonga Manroot, Marah macrocarpus
- Marah macrocarpus var. macrocarpus
- Marah macrocarpus var. major
- Marah macrocarpus var. micranthus
- Coastal Manroot Marah oreganus
- Taw Manroot Marah watsonii
External links
- Jepson manual treatment of genus Marah (http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?3375,3389)