General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Vine
Life cycle: Annual
Sun Requirements: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Plant Height: Sprawls and climbs 4 to 10 feet or more
Fruit: Other: Up to 2 inch long, prickly capsule containing up to 4 seeds.
Fruiting Time: Late summer or early fall
Fall
Late fall or early winter
Winter
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: White
Other: Greenish-white
Bloom Size: Under 1"
Flower Time: Summer
Late summer or early fall
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Pollinators: Various insects
Miscellaneous: Monoecious

Image
Common names
  • Wild Cucumber
  • Mock Cucumber
  • Creeping Jennie
  • Squirting Cucumber
  • Balsam Apple
  • Balsam-Apple
  • Wild Balsam-Apple

Photo Gallery
Location: Indiana  zone 5
Date: 2016-08-20
Location: Primorsky Kraj, Russia
Date: 2010-09-12
Wild Cucumber (Echynocystis lobata).
Location: Crescent City, California
Date: 2016-04-10
This is the tuber of the Wild Cucumber and I'm pretty sure it's a
Photo by sassafrass
Photo by sassafrass
Photo by sassafrass
Photo by robertduval14
Photo by robertduval14
Photo by robertduval14

Date: August
credit: John Cameron
Location: Vaughan, ON, Canada (Zone 5b)
Date: 2013-08-22
15-20' high on dead spruce branches.
Location: Vaughan, ON, Canada (Zone 5b)
Date: 2013-08-22
Location: Vaughan, ON, Canada (Zone 5b)
Date: 2013-08-22
Tendrils
Location: Vaughan, ON, Canada (Zone 5b)
Date: 2013-08-22
Location: Vaughan, ON, Canada (Zone 5b)
Date: 2013-08-22
Location: Vaughan, ON, Canada (Zone 5b)
Date: 2013-08-22
Location: Vaughan, ON, Canada (Zone 5b)
Date: 2013-08-22
Comments:
  • Posted by mellielong (Lutz, Florida - Zone 9b) on Apr 17, 2015 9:18 PM concerning plant:
    The book, "How to Know the Wildflowers" (1922) by Mrs William Starr Dana tells us that this plant is an ornamental climber which bears its flowers and fruits at the same time. She says it grows in rich soil along rivers in parts of New England, Pennsylvania, and westward. As of the book's publishing in 1922, she says this was frequently cultivated in gardens and made an effective arbor vine. The genus name derives from two Greek words which mean "hedgehog" and "bladder" which references the prickly fruit, according to the author. She also gives it the common name of Wild Balsam Apple.
  • Posted by robertduval14 (Milford, New Hampshire - Zone 5b) on Mar 29, 2014 11:16 AM concerning plant:
    Although the fruit resembles a cucumber, it is inedible.

« Add a new plant to the database

« The Plants Database Front Page

Today's site banner is by RootedInDirt and is called "Botanical Gardens"

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.