Creeping Cucumber Update

Note: This blog had a few weeks incubation as a summer email post to the members of the Dept. of Entomology at the University of Maryland. What follows is a re-post of two items dealing with a wild cucumber, followed by a new one. Those who already know the cucumber saga from the emails can scroll down past the older stuff to see the update, but I wouldn't advise it.

So, what's happening behind St. Mary's Hall?
11 July 2017 

I was wandering around campus yesterday and came across St. Mary’s Hall.  I like to investigate buildings … see if the windows are locked, jiggle door knobs, check for unattended purses and laptops. You know, summer stuff.  Anyway, I found the need to make a quick exit out the back door and stumbled across some interesting stuff while investigating the bushes. 

There was this vine covering some shrubs. I didn’t recognize it, but it was very like a water melon, cucumber or squash vine … you know, Cucurbitaceae. It had funny little palmate leaves, tiny yellow flowers and what looked like baby water melons. So, I took a few pictures and figured I would ID it later.  To my surprise, it turned out that this plant is a creeping cucumber (Melothria pendula) and is considered an imperiled species in Maryland. Only about five populations are known in the state and the University of Maryland has one of them. This specimen (or at least the population) has been known since 1970; the plant is a perennial. The creeping cucumber is much more common farther south and is considered something of a pest in some places.

 

Leaves, flowers, tendrils and fruit of the "imperiled" creeping cucumber Melothria pendula

Creeping cucumber covering ornamental juniper

St. Mary’s Hall also has a small vegetable and flower garden which is worth a look, I suppose. The police were stepping into shots and making a commotion, so no more time for pictures.

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Creeping Cucumber Update! 1.0
31 July 2017

I went back to St. Mary's Hall to look at the Melothria pendula vine, hoping to get a photo of the ripe fruit.  Unfortunately, the landscape people had stirred themselves into activity and eliminated it.  As it is a perennial, it will likely return next year, if not before. Still, sad.
 

Crestfallen, the atmosphere darkened and I began to wander aimlessly; the lyrics of Don't Fear the Reaper forcing themselves into my head. However, a few steps brought me face to face with another "imperiled" creeping cucumber vine; this one in a planting of ornamental grass near Dorchester Hall. Cucumber party time! It you missed the first one, it's not too late.

Location of the late St. Mary's Hall cucumber vine (RIP) and that of the remaining Dorchester Hall cucumber vine (Party Time!)

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Creeping Cucumber Update! 2.0
15 August 2017

The creeping or Guadeloupe cucumber is ranked G5 on the NatureServe ranking scheme, meaning that it is secure globally, and S2 in Maryland, meaning that it is "imperiled" in the state. The Maryland populations are at the northern edge of the plant's range, which appears to be moving northward based on recent discoveries on the Eastern Shore and Delaware. So, while the species is technically scarce in Maryland, it is not in any great jeopardy. In fact, it has been making something of a nuisance of itself on campus.

I recently found several more plants near the Biomolecular Sciences Building growing on some milkweed and a large stand of Eupatorium sp. (boneset). Here are some photos.

A couple creeping cucumber vines from a large assembly of vines near the Biomolecular Sciences Building. The vine on the left was destroyed less than 48 hours later by weed-wacking grounds keepers. Worried about their crimes against cucumberdom, they have started to follow me ... destroying evidence!

I returned less than 48 hours later to get a picture of the habitat, which includes the chimney to Maryland's subterranean skunk crematorium.  (Where did you think dead skunks ended up?) I found that the grounds keepers had been weedwacking and had severed a couple vines. This was an opportunity to sample one of the doomed fruits. It had a very satisfying crunch followed by a sudden rush of a pleasant cucumbery flavor but richer and a bit of sourness. It was very tasty. I could see placing them in a garden salad or chopping them up into, say, tuna or chicken salad. There was an after taste, but it was not unpleasant. Too bad they are "imperiled". Fortunately, the seeds of a close relative, M. scabra or Mexican sour gherkin, are available commercially for the rearing of "mouse melons" for culinary purposes. I also understand that the fruits of both species must be eaten green; the ripe purple fruit is a potent purgative. Mmmm ... purgative.

Left: A tasty creeping cucumber or "mouse melon". Right: Creeping cucumber habitat, including picnic area near chimney of UMD skunk crematorium. Mmmm ... skunk crematorium.