Marah fabacea
| California Manroot | ||||||||||||||
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leaves, fruit and tendrils | ||||||||||||||
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Marah fabaceus (Naudin) Greene |
The California Manroot, Marah fabaceus, is the common manroot of most of California, and the only member of genus Marah likely to be encountered in the north and west of the state.
Like other manroots, it has stout, hairy stems with tendrils. Its leaves typically have five lobes. The flower is round, and can vary in colour from yellowish green to cream to white. The fruit is spherical, 4-5 cm in diameter, and covered in prickles of variable density, up to 1cm long but without hooks. All parts of the plant have a bitter taste (this is the meaning of the genus name Marah, which comes from Hebrew).
The California Manroot can be found by streams or in washes, but also in shrubby or open areas, at elevations up to 1600 metres. It ranges through most of California except the far northwest and the Mojave Desert.
Two varieties are recognised, Marah fabaceus var. agrestis (found in the San Francisco Bay Area and Contra Costa County), and Marah fabaceus var. fabaceus (found elsewhere in California).