Bur cucumber

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Bur cucumber

Bur cucumber leaves

Bur cucumber flower

Bur cucumber flowers

Bur cucumber leaf

Bur cucumber fruit

Bur cucumber fruit

Bur cucumber leaves

Bur cucumber

Bur cucumber

Morphology

Stem

Prostrate or climbing vine, sticky-hairy; climbs via forked tendrils.

Leaves

Alternate, simple, thin, circular in outline, up to 8 inches long and wide, surfaces rough, margins minutely toothed; lobes 3-5, shallow, tips pointed; base with deep sinus; stalks 1 to 3 inches long.

Inflorescence

Monoecious (staminate and pistillate flowers on same plant); pistillate flowers in long-stalked, head-like cluster in leaf axils; staminate flowers in axillary racemes and corymbs from same leaf axils.

Flower

Calyx small, inconspicuous, 5-toothed; corolla 5-lobed, white to pale yellow; stamens and anthers united in column.

Fruit

Egg-shaped, yellowish, 1/3 to 1/2 inch long, dry, usually covered with prickly bristles, pubescent, in clusters of 3-5; seeds 1, flattened, smooth, olive-green.

Ecology

Habitat

Stream banks, thickets, edges of lowland woods, ditches, brushy waste areas, and roadsides; damp soils.

Distribution

East 1/2 of Kansas.

Additional Notes