Marah fabacea

(Naudin) Greene

Leafl. Bot. Observ. Crit. 2: 36. 1910.

Common names: California manroot
Endemic
Basionym: Echinocystis fabacea Naudin Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 4, 12: 154, plate 9. 1859
Synonyms: E. fabacea var. inermis (Congdon) Jepson E. inermis Eastwood E. scabrida (Congdon) Dunn Marah fabacea var. agrestis (Greene) Stocking M. inermis Micrampelis fabacea var. agrestis Greene
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 6. Treatment on page 23. Mentioned on page 22.

Leaf blades shallowly 5–7-lobed, 5–10 cm wide, surfaces not glaucous. Flowers: sepals (pistillate) vestigial; petals 3–5 mm (pistillate) or 1.5–2.5 mm (staminate), corolla yellowish green to cream-yellow or (especially inland) white, rotate; staminodia absent in pistillate flowers. Capsules yellowish green at maturity, globose, 4–5 cm, surface sparsely to densely echinate, spinules rigid or flexible, 4–12 mm. Seeds 1–4, oblong-ovate, ± compressed, 15–20 mm. 2n = 32.


Phenology: Flowering Feb–May.
Habitat: Streamsides, washes, coastal strand, rock outcrops, cliff bases, ledges, grasslands, chaparral, oak woodlands, riparian woodlands, open hillsides, roadsides, powerline cuts
Elevation: 20–1400 m

Discussion

Marah fabacea var. fabacea was mapped by K. M. Stocking (1955b) as confined to near-coastal localities centering around San Francisco Bay, from Marin to Monterey counties; he recognized var. agrestis as the more widely distributed expression of the species. In his view, var. fabacea is characterized by fruits with longer (6–12 mm) and rigid spinules and by seeds more numerous (usually four) and commonly laterally flattened. R. A. Schlising (1993) noted that var. agrestis intergrades more or less completely with plants identifiable as var. fabacea and did not recognize varieties.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Marah fabacea"
Guy L. Nesom +
(Naudin) Greene +
Echinocystis fabacea +
California manroot +
Calif. +  and Nev. +
20–1400 m +
Streamsides, washes, coastal strand, rock outcrops, cliff bases, ledges, grasslands, chaparral, oak woodlands, riparian woodlands, open hillsides, roadsides, powerline cuts +
Flowering Feb–May. +
Leafl. Bot. Observ. Crit. +
E. fabacea var. inermis +, E. inermis +, E. scabrida +, Marah fabacea var. agrestis +, M. inermis +  and Micrampelis fabacea var. agrestis +
Marah fabacea +
species +