Marah fabacea

California man-root

Family: Cucurbitaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California man-root is a native perennial found in the Central and Southern California Floristic Province, including the Desert Mojave region, in streamsides, washes, and shrubby open areas at elevations below 1,600 meters. Flowering from February to April, this plant produces yellow-green to cream, and sometimes white, rotate corolla flowers. Growing with herbage that is generally not glaucous, it has sprawling vines that can extend widely through surrounding vegetation. Its leaves are varied, supporting the plant's climbing and spreading growth habit. The fruit is a nearly spherical structure about 4 to 5 centimeters long, covered with sparse to moderate stiff, unhooked prickles less than 12 millimeters long, containing 2 to 4 large ovate to oblong seeds.

Habitat: Streamsides, washes, shrubby open areas

Bloom period: Feb-Apr

Elevation: < 1600 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (exc n NW, n CaR), DMoj.

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