Plants of North America - Star Cucumber

in #nature7 years ago

This climbing vine has leaves and tendrils reminiscent of a garden cucumber, but the fruit itself is very strange.

Found on the side of a trail, this is a plant that is native to North America. Latin name: Sicyos angulatus. Though you might expect an elongated fruit, it's anything but.

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Instead, the fruit consists of the seeds themselves covered in hairy bristles. As the fruit ripens and dries out, the hairs attach to mammalian and bird creatures that the plant relies on for its seed dispersal.

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Arranged in a star-shape, it's definitely not a cucumber. Though everything else about this plant, the flowers and leaves especially - look exactly like a cucumber.

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Included for your reference is a regular cucumber, from the garden, flowering and ready to produce fruits.

All pictures are my own, CC0 and free for re-use and modification.

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looks in progress keep going @seedvault