Marah fabacea

Last updated

Marah fabacea
Marah fabaceus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Cucurbitales
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Genus: Marah
Species:
M. fabacea
Binomial name
Marah fabacea

Marah fabacea (sometimes spelled Marah fabaceus), [1] the California manroot or bigroot, is the most common of the manroot species native to California. Its range throughout the state subsumes nearly the entire ranges of all the other California native manroots species and intergrades. Hybrids between California manroot and other species of Marah are common.

Contents

Foliage

Like other manroots, Marah fabacea has stout, hairy stems with tendrils. Vines appear in late winter in response to increased rainfall, and can climb or scramble to a length of 6 meters. Its leaves typically have five lobes with individual plants showing wide variation in leaf size and lobe length.

Vines emerge from a large, hard tuberous root which can reach several meters in length and weigh in excess of 100 kilograms. Newly exposed tubers can be seen along roadcuts or eroded slopes and have a scaley, tan-colored surface. Injured or decaying tubers take on a golden or orange color.

Flower

The flower can vary in color from yellowish green to cream to white. Flowers appear soon after the vine emerges. The flowers are monoecious, that is, individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant. Male flowers appear in open clusters while females flowers, distinguished by a swollen base, usually appear individually. The plant is self-fertile; pollen from the male flowers can fertilize the female flowers on the same plant. Pollination is by insects.

Fruit Marah fabaceus Seglea.jpg
Fruit

Fruit

The fruit is spherical, 4 to 5 centimeters in diameter, and covered in prickles of variable density, up to 1 centimeter long but without hooks. Unripe fruit are bright green, ripening to yellow. The fruit swells as it ripens until finally rupturing and releasing the large seeds. Fruit begin to form in spring and ripen by early summer. The fruit can induce vomiting and diarrhea.

Seeds and germination

Seeds of the California manroot are large, hard, and very smooth. Fruit usually hold 4 or more seeds. Seeds sprout in the cool wetness of late winter. Seeds have an intriguing germination process. The initial shoot emerges from the seed and grows downward into the earth. This shoot then splits, one part beginning to swell and form the tuber, while the second part grows back to the surface and becomes the vine.

Ecology

The California manroot grows most vigorously by streams or in washes but is also successful in dry chaparral, at elevations up to 1600 metres. It ranges through most of California except the far northwest and the Mojave Desert. It will tolerate a variety of soil types and acidities, but it requires seasonally moist soil. Vines can grow in full-sun to partially shaded conditions. In mild areas where year-round moisture is available, vines can be perennial. In the Mediterranean climate areas of California, manroot emerges soon after winter rains begin, grows until late spring, and dies back completely in the heat and dryness of summer.

Taxonomy

Two varieties have previously been recognized: Marah fabaceus var. agrestis (found in the San Francisco Bay Area and Contra Costa County), and Marah fabaceus var. fabaceus (found elsewhere in California). An example occurrence of M. f. agrestis is on Ring Mountain in Marin County, California. [2]

Uses

The tubers of Marah fabacea were crushed and thrown into surface waters by some Native American tribes, including the Kumeyaay [3] and the Coast Miwok [4] , to immobilize fish. The tubers contain megharrhin, a saponin-like glucoside. Saponins lower the surface tension of water allowing the formation of bubbles. It is likely that the substance enters the fish's circulation through the gill arches where only a single-cell epithelium separates the water from the animal’s red blood cells. The affected fish float to the surface. [3]

All parts of the plant have a bitter taste (this is the meaning of the genus name Marah, which comes from Hebrew). Despite this, the leaves have been used as a vegetable. Due to its saponin content, the large tuber of the manroot can be processed for a soap-like extract. The liquid inside the fruit is an eye irritant, and the spines on the fruit are irritating to the skin.

Related Research Articles

<i>Marah</i> (plant) Genus of plants

Marah are flowering plants in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to western North America. The genus was named for Marah in Exodus 15:22–25, which was said to be named for the bitter water there.

<i>Symphoricarpos</i> Genus of flowering plants in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae

Symphoricarpos, commonly known as the snowberry, waxberry, or ghostberry, is a small genus of about 15 species of deciduous shrubs in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. With the exception of the Chinese coralberry, S. sinensis, which is indigenous to western China, all species are native to North and Central America. The name of the genus is derived from the Ancient Greek words συμφορεῖν (sumphoreîn), meaning "to bear together", and καρπός (karpós), meaning "fruit". It refers to the closely packed clusters of berries the species produces.

<i>Marah oreganus</i> Species of tree

Marah oreganus, the Oregon manroot, coastal manroot or western wild-cucumber, is a common manroot of the northwest coast of the United States. It ranges from California north to Canada.

<i>Passiflora lutea</i> Species of vine

Passiflora lutea, commonly known as yellow passionflower, is a flowering perennial vine in the family Passifloraceae, native to the central and eastern United States. The vine has three-lobed leaves and small, yellowish-green, fringed flowers that appear in the summer, followed by green fruit that turn almost black at maturity. It grows in moist to wet habitats.

<i>Marah watsonii</i> Species of flowering plant

Marah watsonii, the taw manroot, is an uncommon species in the genus Marah endemic to central northern California. Its range is bounded by the eastern coastal foothills, the western foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada and Cascades ranges and from Lake Berryessa in the south to Lake Shasta in the north.

<i>Ceanothus integerrimus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceanothus integerrimus, known by the common name deer brush, is a species of woody shrub in the family Rhamnaceae, native to the western United States in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Washington. It grows in montane chaparral and woodlands regions, in hardwood forests, and in fir, spruce, and Ponderosa pine plant communities, being most abundant in the California chaparral and woodlands and Sierra Nevada.

<i>Thunbergia alata</i> Species of plant

Thunbergia alata, commonly called black-eyed Susan vine, is a herbaceous perennial climbing plant species in the family Acanthaceae. It is native to Eastern Africa, and has been naturalized in other parts of the world.

<i>Momordica balsamina</i> Species of flowering plant

Momordica balsamina is a tendril-bearing annual vine native to the tropical regions of Africa, introduced and invasive in Asia, Australia, Central America, and North America, where they have been found in some parts of Florida. In 1810, Thomas Jefferson planted this vine in his flower borders at Monticello along with larkspur, poppies, and nutmeg.

<i>Marah macrocarpa</i> Species of flowering plant

Marah macrocarpa, known as chilicothe, wild cucumber, manroot or bigroot is a species of plant in the genus Marah.

<i>Crupina vulgaris</i> Species of flowering plant

Crupina vulgaris is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Its common names include common crupina, bearded-creeper, false saw-wort, and starry scabious. It is native to parts of Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and it is known elsewhere as an introduced species and often a noxious weed.

<i>Plukenetia volubilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Plukenetia volubilis, commonly known as sacha inchi, sacha peanut, mountain peanut, Inca nut or Inca-peanut, is a perennial plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, having small trichomes on its leaves. It is native to much of tropical South America, as well as some of the Windward Islands in the Caribbean. It is cultivated commercially in South East Asia, most notably in Thailand. Although its raw seeds and leaves contain toxins, these components are safe for consumption after roasting.

<i>Geranium carolinianum</i> Species of flowering plant

Geranium carolinianum is a species of geranium known by the common name Carolina crane's-bill, or Carolina geranium. This species is native to North America, where it is widespread and grows in many types of habitat. There are two varieties; Geranium carolinianum var. carolinianum and the Geranium carolinianum var. sphaerospermum. This is a summer or winter annual herb. It can be considered invasive depending on the region, when it is found in the United States it is considered to be native.

<i>Agoseris apargioides</i> Species of flowering plant

Agoseris apargioides is a species in the family Asteraceae, is commonly called seaside agoseris or seaside false-dandelion. It is native to the Pacific coast of the United States from Washington to central California, where it grows primarily on coastal dunes.

<i>Marah horridus</i> Species of flowering plant

Marah horridus, common name Sierra manroot, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, endemic to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada and the Tehachapi Mountains in California. It grows in open and shrubby areas below 1,000 m (3,300 ft) elevation.

<i>Ribes velutinum</i> Species of flowering plant

Ribes velutinum is a species of currant known by the common name desert gooseberry.

<i>Cyclamen hederifolium</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae

Cyclamen hederifolium, the ivy-leaved cyclamen or sowbread, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae. This widespread cyclamen species is widely cultivated and among the most hardy and vigorous in oceanic climates. It is native to woodland, shrubland, and rocky areas in the Mediterranean region from southern France to western Turkey and on Mediterranean islands, and naturalized farther north in Europe and in the Pacific Northwest.

<i>Passiflora suberosa</i> Species of plant

Passiflora suberosa is a species of passionflower that is native to the Americas. It is commonly known as corkystem passionflower due to the corkiness of older stems. Other common names include corky passion vine, cork-bark passion flower, corkstem passionflower and corky passionfruit. In Latin America it is called Meloncillo. It is possibly also cryptic and have multiple species in one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomcord</span> Grape varietal

Thomcord is a seedless table grape variety and a hybrid of the popular Thompson Seedless or Sultanina grape and Concord grape. Thomcord was developed in 1983 by Californian grape breeders working for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), as part of a test to better understand a new seedless grape breeding procedure.

Marah gilensis, commonly known as the Gila manroot, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, endemic to Arizona and New Mexico in the United States.

References

  1. "Marah fabacea (Naudin) Greene". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  2. C. Michael Hogan. 2008
  3. 1 2 Christina A. Bjenning. 2005
  4. "Bay Nature Almanac: Life during Winter". Bay Nature . 24 (1): 12. Winter 2024.