Flora of North America species comparison

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Cucumis dipsaceus

Cucumis anguria

hedgehog gourd, teasel gourd

West India gherkin, West Indian gherkin, West Indian or bur gherkin
Habit Plants: roots thin, without thick, woody rootstock. Plants dioecious, roots thin, without thick, woody rootstock.
Leaves

petiole weakly hispidulous to hispid;

blade ovate to broadly ovate, unlobed to 3-lobate, 3–7.5(–12.5) × 2–7(–12) cm, length 1.1–1.5 times width, base cordate, lobes ovate to elliptic, margins serrate or entire.

petiole hispid to setose;

blade broadly to narrowly ovate, deeply palmately 3–5-lobed to weakly 3-lobed or nearly unlobed, [sometimes pedately lobed], 3–12(–15) × 2.5–12(–15) cm, length 0.9–1(–2) times width, base cordate, lobes broadly elliptic to obovate, spatulate, or ovate, margins serrate or entire.
Inflorescences

pedicels of pistillate flowers and fruits cylindric; staminate flowers 1 or 2–7, usually in racemoid fascicles, rarely racemes; pistillate flowers: calyx lobes 5–6(–11) mm, petals 6–15 mm, corolla tube 1–1.5 mm, lobes glabrous inside.

pedicels of pistillate flowers distally dilated; staminate flowers 3–10 in racemes, pedunculate or sessile; pistillate flowers: calyx lobes 2–4 mm, petals 6–8 mm, corolla tube 0–1 mm, sparsely puberulent inside.
Tendrils

proximally hispidulous, distally glabrous.

setose.
Pepos

pale yellow, monocolor, ellipsoid to ellipsoid-cylindric or globose, 3.5–7 × 2.5–4 cm, densely echinate at maturity, spinules narrowly cylindric, mostly obscuring fruit surface, flesh light yellow.

light yellowish green to light yellow, sometimes with light green stripes, usually ellipsoid, rarely obovoid, 2–7 × 1.5–4 cm, surfaces ± aculeate at maturity, flesh greenish white to yellowish green.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Cucumis dipsaceus

Cucumis anguria
Phenology Flowering Jul–Sep.
Habitat Open shrublands, thicket edges, riparian corridors, stream banks, sandy and loamy soil
Elevation 50–100 m (200–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
TX; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, Pacific Islands (Galapagos Islands, Hawaii), Australia]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; CA; FL; GA; MA; MT; NY; TX; Africa; Atlantic Islands (Cape Verde Islands) [Introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, Pacific Islands (Marquesas Islands), Australia]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cucumis dipsaceus is documented as adventive in Texas by collections from Hidalgo and Webb counties. It is sometimes cultivated as an ornamental because of its distinctive fruits.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Pepos obscurely aculeate, aculei 1–2 mm; leaf blades deeply palmately 3–5-lobed.
var. anguria
1. Pepos prominently aculeate, aculei 4–10(–15) mm; leaf blades deeply palmately 3–5-lobed to weakly 3-lobed or nearly unlobed.
var. longaculeatus
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 38. FNA vol. 6, p. 36.
Parent taxa Cucurbitaceae > Cucumis Cucurbitaceae > Cucumis
Sibling taxa
C. anguria, C. melo, C. metuliferus, C. myriocarpus, C. sativus
C. dipsaceus, C. melo, C. metuliferus, C. myriocarpus, C. sativus
Subordinate taxa
C. anguria var. anguria, C. anguria var. longaculeatus
Name authority Ehrenberg: in E. Spach, Hist. Nat. Vég. 6: 211. (1838) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1011. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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