| Snake vine | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Cucurbitales |
| Family: | Cucurbitaceae |
| Genus: | Cucumis |
| Species: | C. argenteus |
| Binomial name | |
| Cucumis argenteus | |
Cucumis argenteus commonly known as snake vine, [2] is a flowering vine in the family Cucurbitaceae. It has yellow flowers, red berries, variable leaves and grows in Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Cucumis argenteus is a scrambling or climbing perennial with tendrils that climb on nearby plants, leaves are almost triangular to egg-shaped, occasionally lobed, 2–11 cm (0.79–4.33 in) long, 1–11 cm (0.39–4.33 in) wide and a rough surface. The yellow flowers are borne in leaf axils on a short pedicel. Flowering occurs in summer and the fruit is a red berry 5–12 mm (0.20–0.47 in) wide. [2]
This species was described in 1929 by Karel Domin who named it Melothria argentea. [3] In 2011 Ian Telford and Patrizia Sebastian changed the name to Cucumis argenteus and the change was published in Systematic Botany . [4] The specific epithet (argenteus) means "silvery". [5]
Snake vine grows near sand dunes and sometimes in wet culverts near roadsides in Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory. [2] [6] [7]