Marah macrocarpa

Chilicothe

Family: Cucurbitaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Chilicothe is a California native perennial found in southwestern and desert southern California in washes and shrubby areas at elevations below 900 meters. Flowering from January to April, this plant produces white flowers in cup-shaped corollas over 8 millimeters wide. Growing with spreading herbage that is not glaucous, it develops a robust vine-like structure with prominent tendrils. Its fruit is distinctive, measuring 5 to 12 centimeters long, oblong with rounded ends, and covered in dense, stiff prickles. The plant produces large ovoid seeds 13 to 33 millimeters long, typically more than 6 per fruit.

Habitat: Washes, shrubby or open areas

Bloom period: Jan-Apr

Elevation: < 900 m

Bioregions: SW, DSon

California counties: Los Angeles, Kern, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Plumas, Ventura, Imperial, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Butte, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

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