Marah macrocarpa
| Southern California Manroot, Cucamonga Manroot | |
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| File:Marah macrocarpus | |
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| Species: | M. macrocarpus
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| Binomial name | |
| Marah macrocarpus (Naudin) Greene
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The Manroot or Bigroot, Marah macrocarpus, is the common manroot of most of southern California.
Foliage
Like other manroots, it has stout, hairy stems with tendrils. Vines appear in late winter in response to increased rainfall, and can climb or scramble to a length of 6m. Its leaves typically have five lobes with individual plants showing wide variation in leaf size and lobe length.
Vines emerge from a large, hard tuberous root which can reach several meters in length and weigh in excess of 100kg. Vines develop leaves and, particularly, flowers and fruit very quickly, often with the first nodes of the quick-growing vines containing male and female flower heads.
Flower
The flower can vary in colour from yellowish green to cream to white. Flowers appear soon after the vine emerges. The flowers are monoecious, that is, individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant. Male flowers appear in open clusters while females flowers, distinguished by a swollen base, usually appear individually. The plant is self-fertile, i.e. pollen from the male flowers can fertilise the female flowers on the same plant; pollination is by insects.
Fruit
The fruit is a longer than is if wide, 5-6 cm in diameter and 15-20 cm long, and covered in prickles of variable density, up to 1cm long but without hooks. Unripe fruit are bright green, ripening to yellow. The fruit swells as it ripens until finally rupturing and releasing the large seeds. Fruit begin to form in late winter and ripen by early summer.
Seeds & Germination
Seeds of the manroot are large, hard, and very smooth. Southern California Manroot has larger, longer seeds that the other manroot species except for Marah horridus. Fruit usually hold 4 or more seeds. Seeds sprout in the cool wetness of late winter. Seeds have an intriguing germination process. The initial shoot emerges from the seed and grows downward into the earth. This shoot then splits, one part beginning to swell and form the tuber, while the second part grows back to the surface and becomes the vine.
Habits
The Southern California Manroot grows most vigorously by streams or in washes but is also successful in dry chaparral, at elevations up to 1600 metres. It's range extends from Santa Barbara & the Transverse Ranges in the west and north to Baja California and the Mojave & Sonoran Deserts in the south and east. It will tolerate a variety of soil types and acidities, but it requires seasonally moist soil. Vines can grow in full-sun to partially shaded conditions. In the Mediterranean climate areas of California, manroot emerges soon after winter rains begin, grows until late spring, and dies back completely in the heat and dryness of summer.
General
All parts of the plant have a bitter taste (this is the meaning of the genus name Marah, which comes from Hebrew). Despite this, the leaves have been used as a vegetable. The large tuber of the manroot can be processed for a soap-like extract.
Three varieties are recognised, Marah macrocarpus var. macrocarpus (found in much of Southern California),Marah macrocarpus var. major (found on the Channel Islands) and Marah marah macrocarpus var. unknown (needs content).