Cucurbita digitata

Finger-leaved gourd

Family: Cucurbitaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Finger-leaved gourd is a California native perennial found in southern California coastal regions, peninsular ranges, and desert regions in sandy, open, or shrubby places at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from August to October, this plant produces large yellow flowers 3 to 5 centimeters across with distinctive palmately lobed leaves. Growing with scabrous herbage and branched tendrils, it develops sprawling vines with green leaves divided into 5 lance-linear lobes. Its leaves are 3 to 9 centimeters wide, with main veins lighter than the green leaf surface, creating a textured appearance. The fruit is a spheric to oblong dark green gourd 7 to 8 centimeters wide, decorated with several narrow white stripes.

Habitat: Uncommon. Sandy, open or shrubby places

Bloom period: Aug-Oct

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: SCo, PR, DSon

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.