Lobed spinyfruit, or Echinocystis lobata, or Wild Cucumber

Lobed spinyfruit, or Echinocystis lobata, or Wild Cucumber (lat. Echinocystis lobata) — an annual herbaceous plant of the Gourd family (Cucurbitaceae). This North American species entered Europe via botanical gardens and collectors of exotic plants. It apparently reached Central Asia as an introduced plant with peasant settlers.

The generic name comes from the Greek words греч. ἐχῖνος — "hedgehog" and κύστις — "bladder", referring to the spiny inflated fruits.

An annual herbaceous climbing vine with a fibrous root system and ground-level shoots. Stems up to 6 m or more in length, succulent, slender, very branched at the nodes, shortly pubescent, climbing by means of tendrils.

Leaves alternate, with long petioles, pale green, thin, glabrous. In outline the leaves are rounded or ovate, 5—10 cm long and wide, three-, five- or seven-lobed.

Plants are monoecious; flowers are unisexual, regular. The flowers have a delicate honey scent. Staminate (male) flowers are solitary or in erect racemose inflorescences — panicles. Pistillate (female) flowers are solitary or in clusters of two. Fruits are ovoid pepos, 1—6 cm long, densely covered with spiny bristles, at first bluish-green and watery, later drying and splitting at the top, containing two seeds each. In a rainy summer ripe fruits can accumulate a lot of liquid; under its pressure they burst and their seeds are ejected in different directions. Seeds are flattened, oblong-oval, about 15 mm long, colored from dark brown to almost black. Flowers from June to September; fruits ripen from August to October.

Location: prefers a sunny site, can tolerate partial shade or shaded conditions.

Soil: undemanding, grows well on any soils. On fertile soils it can cover up to 8 m2 with foliage.

Care: requires support. Watering, feeding: usually rainfall is sufficient, but during prolonged drought watering is necessary.

Propagation: by seeds, which are best sown in autumn (before winter) at 80—100 cm spacing, two to three seeds per hill; when three or four true leaves appear, leave one seedling per spot.