Brandegea bigelovii – “Desert Starvine”

Also Known As: Brandegea
Family: Squash (Cucurbitaceae)
Bloom Period: Mar-May
Form: Perennial vine that climbs on and over other plants, in some cases (such as in the inset photo) completely covering them
Habitat: Washes and canyons
Leaves: Palmately-compound, generally deeply; alternate
Translation: “Brandegea” is named for Townsend Brandegee (1843-1925) and Mary Katherine Layne (née Curran) Brandegee, California botanists who were so serious about their work that they spent their honeymoon botanizing from San Diego to San Francisco by foot; “bigelovii” is John M. Bigelow, MD, (1804-1878), a U.S. botanical collector.
Notes: Like most plants in the Squash Family, this one is monoecious, meaning it has separate male and female flowers on the same plant. The female can be identified by the tiny fruit beneath the flower. The mature fruit has barbs and is tiny – less than ½ inch (5-6mm) long – with one seed inside. Desert Starvine has usually been designated as a perennial because of its thick taproot – which is 1 inch (2 ½ cm) wide – but some biologists have recently claimed that it is an annual that responds vigorously to rain.