Random Plant: Wild cucumber

Wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata, Cucurbitaceae), photographed 07/31/2010 in a flood plain forest near Blissfield Michigan.

It seems like every time I see a vine, it’s Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Vitaceae), poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans, Anacardiaceae), or riverbank grape (Vitis riparia, Vitaceae).  The vine above caught my attention because I had never noticed it before.  After spending almost an hour trying to figure out what it was, I found an awesome key to climbing plants of Ohio and finally got an identification.  It’s wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata, Cucurbitaceae), and according to one source it’s appropriate that I found it in a floodplain forest.

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