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ID ? wild loofah-like plant in New England
I don't have a photo of this yet, but in December I discovered what
appeared to be a vine growing in a field in MA, a field that had not been mown in several years. Attached to the vine were several "mini-loofahs" - i.e., they were loofahs about 1.5 to 2" long. At the time I found them I thought loofahs were a sea sponge, but I later discovered they were a gourd. I cannot find any reference to such a plant with gourds/seedpods that are so small. Has anyone seen this plant or does anyone know about it? Is it an escapee from a garden? |
#2
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ID ? wild loofah-like plant in New England
In article . com,
Landtrustlady wrote: I don't have a photo of this yet, but in December I discovered what appeared to be a vine growing in a field in MA, a field that had not been mown in several years. Attached to the vine were several "mini-loofahs" - i.e., they were loofahs about 1.5 to 2" long. At the time I found them I thought loofahs were a sea sponge, but I later discovered they were a gourd. I cannot find any reference to such a plant with gourds/seedpods that are so small. Has anyone seen this plant or does anyone know about it? Is it an escapee from a garden? My guess is Echinocystis lobata, aka Wild Cucumber. It's an annual vine native to most of the US and southern Canada. AFAIK, it has no other use than for children to throw the fruits at each other giggling wildly, since these projectiles have the density of styrofoam so are not only hard to aim but hit pretty much painlessly. Maybe children are the natural disseminators of its seeds. N.B. It's a native plant but can be a fairly invasive weed, so think twice before growing it in your garden. |
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