bur cucumber

(Sicyos angulatus)

Conservation Status
bur cucumber
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

N5? - Secure

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
Wetland Indicator Status
     
  Great Plains

FACW - Facultative wetland

     
  Midwest

FACW - Facultative wetland

     
  Northcentral & Northeast

FACW - Facultative wetland

     
           
 
Description
 
 

Bur cucumber is an annual, herbaceous vine produces multiple lanky, prostrate or climbing stems from a shallow, branched taproot. It has separate male and female flowers, both appearing on the same plant.

The stems are light green and hairy. They can extend 18 to 25.

The tendrils are branched.

The leaves are alternate and are attached to the vine on 1 to 3 long leaf stalks. They are up to 8 long and 8 wide. They have 3 to 5 shallow lobes with pointed tips, and are deeply-cleft at the base where they attach to the leaf stalk. The margins have tiny, widely-spaced teeth. The leaf surfaces are rough to the touch. The upper surface si mostly hairless, the lower surface is covered with fine, short hairs.

The male and female flowers are borne separately from the same leaf axils. The male inflorescence is a 12 to 16 long, erect cluster of many flowers. The female inflorescence is a small, head-like cluster on a shorter stalk.

The flowers are to ½ wide and star-shaped. They have 5 petals that are pale green with darker green veins. There is no fragrance.

The fruits are in clusters of 3 to 5. Each fruit is a to ½ long, egg-shaped capsule covered with spiny prickles and long white hairs. It contains 1 seed.

 
     
 

Height

 
 

Climbimg, 18 to 25 long

 
     
 

Flower Color

 
 

Pale green with darker veins

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
 

Wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata) has hairless stems. The leaves are more deeply-lobed. The flowers have 6 petals. The fruit is a much larger, green, inflated, egg-shaped capsule containing 4 seeds.

Canada moonseed (Menispermum canadense) leaf stalks attach to the blades a little less than ½ inside the margin.

 
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Moist. Streambanks, thickets, wood edges, roadsides.

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Flowering

 
 

June to August

 
     
 

Pests and Diseases

 
 

 

 
     
 
Use
 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 24, 28, 29, 30.

 
  9/6/2022      
         
 

Nativity

 
 

Native

 
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

 

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Plantae (green algae and land plants)  
  Subkingdom Viridiplantae (green plants)  
  Infrakingdom Streptophyta (land plants and green algae)  
  Superdivision Embryophyta (land plants)  
  Division Tracheophyta (vascular plants)  
  Subdivision Spermatophytina (seed plants)  
  Class Magnoliopsida (flowering plants)  
  Superorder Rosanae  
 

Order

Cucurbitales  
 

Family

Cucurbitaceae (gourd)  
  Subfamily Cucurbitoideae  
  Tribe Sicyoeae  
 

Genus

Sicyos (bur cucumbers)  
       
 

Subordinate Taxa

 
 

 

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
     
       
 

Common Names

 
 

bur cucumber

burcucumber

bur-cucumber

oneseed bur cucumber

wall burr cucumber

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Axil

The upper angle where the leaf stalk meets the stem.

 

Glandular hairs

Hairs spread over aerial vegetation that secrete essential oils. The oils act to protect against herbivores and pathogens or, when on a flower part, attract pollinators. The hairs have a sticky or oily feel.

 
 
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Greg Watson

 
    northern paper wasp      
 

Alfredo Colon

 
    bur cucumber      
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Habitat

 
    bur cucumber      
           
 

Inflorescence

 
    bur cucumber      
           
 

Leaves

 
    bur cucumber      
           
 

Infructescence

 
    bur cucumber   bur cucumber  
           
    bur cucumber      

 

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slideshow

       
 
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Other Videos
 
  MyNature Apps; Identifying Bur Cucumber, Sicyos angulatus
MyNatureApps
 
   
 
About

Published on Apr 29, 2012

How to identify Bur Cucumber, Sicyos angulatus also known as star cucumber. www.mynatureapps.com

   
  Weed of the Week #812 - Bur Cucumber (Air Date 10/27/13)
AgPhD
 
   
 
About

Published on Oct 31, 2013

It's our Weed of the Week, Bur Cucumber.

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this plant.

 
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Be sure to include a location.
 
  Greg Watson
9/4/2022

Location: Wagon Wheel Trail in La Crescent

northern paper wasp  
  Alfredo Colon
8/30/2019

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

bur cucumber  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

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