Melothria guadalupensis (Pepinillo) this
is herbaceous monoecious perennial climber also called by synonym
name: Melothria
pendula
var. chlorocarpa.
It is a cousin of other well known species: cucamelon
(M.
scabra)
(but it is not the same – they are two distinct botanical species).
M.
guadalupensis grows
in wild state in over at least all of the Gulf Coast states in USA,
and Central America. My plants were origin from Texas. It is medium
size (about 2m = 7 ft tall in one year) climber with shallowly-lobed
leaves, small yellow flowers and oblong, yellowish-mottled-green
fruits about 2,5cm = 1 inch long, on long pedicels. The upper end of
fruit is always acute. They fall down when ripe and later become
dark-green when overripe. The fruits are edible when immature – raw
or cooked. They have little acid, cucumber-like taste. I heard that
also underground rhizomes of this species are edible. They have also
cucumber-like flavor, but they are rather mealy (they contains
starch). I am not sure if the rhizomes can be eaten raw in large
doses, or after cooking/processing (but I suppose that they are
rather safe raw). This is also folk medicinal herb. The seeds are
larger than usual Melothria
pendula.
They germinates easily when sown surface. The plant is easy to
growing. Likes full sun or half-shade, well drained, fertile,
alkaline soils and medium watering. I harvested the rhizomes in
autumn (they were surprisingly small) and now I am keeping them in
moist Sphagnum
moss in cool temperature (but protected before frost). I hope that
they survive and resprout in spring.
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| Young seedlings in spring |
 |
| Female flower |
 |
| Young fruits |
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| The fruits fall down whem ripe |
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| Over-ripe fruits (stored by a few weeks after harvest) become darker |
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| The rhizomes are said to be edible |
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