Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Cucumis myriocarpus subsp. myriocarpus
Common name
Prickly paddy melon, Paddy melon, Gooseberry melon
Family
Cucurbitaceae
Where found
Woodland, grassy areas, road sides, disturbed sites, and along streams. Western Slopes. Tablelands north and east of the ACT. ACT. Occasionally elsewhere.
Notes
Introduced annual herb or climber, prostrate or to 2 m tall. Stems rough. Leaves alternating along the stems, 1-7.5 cm long, 10-80 mm wide, almost hairless on the top surface, hairy to bristly below, margins lobed, the lobes further lobed to toothed, lobed at the base. Male and female flowers on the same plant. Flowers yellow, about 6 mm in diameter, with 5 lobes. Male flowers in clusters of 2-4, petals 4–5 mm long; female flowers single or in pairs, petals 2–4 mm long. Flowers Summer to Autumn. Fruit green with pale stripes, or mottled, ripening yellow; with soft, often hooked, bristles. Fruit bitter, probably poisonous.
Was Cucumis myriocarpus subsp. leptodermis.
PlantNET description: http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=in&name=Cucumis~myriocarpus+subsp.~myriocarpus (accessed 26 April 2021)
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