TUMAMOCA MACDOUGALII

This Monoecious member of the Cucurbitaceae family was described by Joseph Nelson Rose in 1912. It is found in the Sonoran Desert, growing in a well drained soil with some water and some sun.

The partly sub terrestrial caudex will grow to fifteen centimetres in diameter, the vines reaches up in the trees for three meters. The flowers are from white to greenish yellow. It can be reproduced both by seeds and root-cuttings.

The genera is named for Tumamoc Hill just west of the City of Tucson, Arizona, where the University of Arizona maintains an ecological research station. The species name after John Macdougal, botanist with the Missouri Botanical Gardens. A drawing from Tumamoc.org.