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Cucumis myriocarpus
Also called Gooseberry Cucumber, Gooseberry Melon, Paddy Melon, Prickly Paddymelon, Striped Wild Cucumber, Thorny Cucumber, Camel Melon
Gooseberry gourd is a prostrate or climbing annual vine from tropical and southern Africa, grown for its small spiny fruit and seen as a weed in Australia and California. It thrives in disturbed soil with summer moisture, and the whole plant is toxic.
Cucumis myriocarpus, the gooseberry cucumber, gooseberry gourd, paddy melon, mallee pear or prickly paddy melon, is a prostrate or climbing annual herb native to tropical and southern Africa. It has small, round, yellow-green or green-striped fruit with soft spines, small yellow flowers and deeply lobed, light green leaves. The melon occurs in disturbed soil and cleared or bare areas, and thrives on summer moisture.
The entire plant is toxic due to the presence of various cucurbitacins. The plant is toxic to humans as well as to horses, sheep, cattle and pigs and it has been associated with livestock deaths. It has been used by humans as an emetic. There are records of poisoning occurring in humans.
West Indian gherkin · Cucumis · Aardvark Cucumber · Cucumis hystrix · Cantaloupe · Armenian cucumber · Melon · African horned cucumber · Cucumis · Cucumber · Melon
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Cucumis myriocarpus by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
