Cucumis myriocarpus subsp. myriocarpus
Annual herb, with scabrous stems to c. 2 m long. Leaves palmately 3–5-lobed; lamina 1–5 cm long, 1–4 cm wide, hairy to scabrous below, glabrous above; petiole 1–5 cm long, ribbed in older leaves, scabrous hairy. Male flowers in clusters or racemes of 2–4 flowers; peduncles to 5 mm; pedicels 2–4 mm long; petals 4–5 mm long, yellow. Female flowers solitary or paired; pedicels 3–8 mm long; petals 2–4 mm long, yellow. Fruit globose to subglobose, 1–2.5 cm diam., with scattered soft bristles to 6 mm long, green with pale yellow stripes, ripening to yellow; seeds 3–4 mm long, yellow. Flowers Jan.–Apr.
LoM, MuM, Wim, VVP, VRiv, MSB, RobP, MuF, GipP, OtP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGU, MonT. Naturalised in all Australian states and territories. Native to Africa, widely naturalised (e.g. southern Europe, U.S.A.). *CVU, *EGU, *Glep, *Gold, *GGr, *MuF, *MuM, *NIS, *VRiv, *Wim. Locally and seasonally common in paddocks and naturally open vegetation, roadsides etc., particularly in areas prone to occasional flooding (river banks, lake verges etc.).
Australian plants have often been treated as subsp. leptodermis Schweick., but recent molecular investigation (Shaik et al., 2016) has shown that our plants belong to the nominate subspecies.
SpinningShaik, R.S.; Lepschi, B.J.; Gopurenko, D.; Urwin, N.A.R.; Burrows, G.E.; Weston, L.A. (2016). An integrative morphological and molecular approach to identification of three Australian cucurbitaceous invasive weeds: Citrullus colocynthis, C. lanatus and Cucumis myriocarpus. Australian Systematic Botany **29 **(5): 247–264.
