Striped Cucumber

Description:

Diplocyclos palmatus, also commonly known as "red-striped cucumber" and "native bryony", is an Australian native* climbing vine in the family Cucurbitaceae. This is a really interesting family that includes various melons, pumpkins, squash, zucchini, gourds, etc., and ranks amongst the highest of plant families for the number and percentage of species used as human food. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbitac... Oddly enough, Diplocyclos palmatus is quite poisonous - children have died after eating the fruit, and animals also from eating the leaves. Despite this, the species is used medicinally in certain parts of the world. This is a short-lived perennial vine producing annual, much-branched stems up to 6 metres long from a fleshy rootstock. The stems scramble over the ground, climbing into the surrounding vegetation where it attaches itself by means of tendrils. This spotting shows immature fruit, but it will redden as it ripens. The fruit is characterised by eight irregular longitudinal stripes, and that's the one feature that told me this was not a passionfruit (Passiflora) species. From the very beginning I actually thought this was some sort of miniature squash, but thankfully a friend gave me the vital lead and said it was wild cucumber, and that was a game changer! The fruit was about the same size as a very large grape or olive - http://www.saveourwaterwaysnow.com.au/01...

Habitat:

Found on the Gold Creek walking trail at Gold Creek Reservoir, which lies just to the west of Brisbane. Freshwater lake and dense native bushland vegetation of dry eucalypt forests and subtropical rainforests. Heavily-shades area due to large eucalypt species like blue, grey and red gums, plus several large figs.

Notes:

* Despite this being an Australian native, Diplocyclos palmatus appears to have a massive range well into Asia and Africa. But maybe it's the subspecies (D. p. palmatus) that is more localised. The references I have seen are either ambiguous or contradictory, but as far as I can tell, the Australian native occurs in WA, NT, CYP, NEQ and southwards as far as north-eastern New South Wales. It also occurs in New Guinea and other parts of Malesia. In Australia, endemicity is unknown, but it is classified as a native species. D'Aguilar National Park (where this spotting was made) officially recognised this subspecies as being native.