Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Cucurbitales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Melothria pendula
FAMILY
Cucurbitaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Creeping Cucumber at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Melothria pendula var. pendula
FAMILY
Cucurbitaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Melothria pendula
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Melothria pendula
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Melothria pendula var. aspera
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Melothria pendula var. crassifolia
INCLUDING Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Melothria pendula var. pendula
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 177-06-001:
Melothria pendula FAMILY Cucurbitaceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melothria microcarpa
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melothria nashii
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melothria pendula
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melothria pendula var. aspera
COMMON NAME:
Creeping Cucumber
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_mepe3_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm180623_2978
June Greenville County SC
Tall Pines Wildlife Management Area
)
JK Marlow jkm170826_808
August Spartanburg County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_911
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_915
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Fruit green to black, ovoid, about 1cm, pulpy, w 20 white seeds, poisonous, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_915b
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
Female flowers solitary, about 1/4" across; male even smaller in a cluster, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm120914_919
September Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
An instructive picture of inferior ovary developing into young fruit...
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_melothria_pendula_c
September
)
JK Marlow s060909_a
September Greenville County SC
The tendrils are unbranched, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow s060909_b
September Greenville County SC
Leaves toothed, shallowly to deeply palmately 5-lobed; base deeply cordate, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
COMPARE
palmately veined leaves of vines
)
JK Marlow s060909_b2
September Greenville County SC
Fruit is green, melon-like, about 0.4" long, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Melothria pendula
FAMILY
Cucurbitaceae
INCLUDING
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Melothria pendula var. pendula
FAMILY
Cucurbitaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Melothria pendula
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Melothria pendula
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Melothria pendula var. aspera
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Melothria pendula var. crassifolia
INCLUDING
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Melothria pendula var. pendula
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 177-06-001:
Melothria pendula
FAMILY
Cucurbitaceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melothria microcarpa
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melothria nashii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melothria pendula
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Melothria pendula var. aspera
2125
Climbing herbaceous vine (with tendrils)
Annual
Polygamous or monoecious
Habitat: Bottomland forests, moist roadsides and disturbed areas, marshes, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in GA Mountains, rare in Carolina Mountains)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple - palmately lobed
Alternate
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Yellow
5-lobed calyx
5-lobed campanulate corolla
Inferior ovary
Unisexual (rarely bisexual)
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Green/Black
Berry
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p261
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p101
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p242
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p163
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p083
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p106
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p168
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