ILLINOIS PLANT INFORMATION NETWORK
 
 ILPIN INFORMATION ON    Echinocystis lobata
 
 
 CLASS:    DICOTYLEDENAE
 ORDER:    VIOLALES
 FAMILY:   CUCURBITACEAE
 SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Echinocystis lobata
 AUTHORITY:  (Michx.)Torr. and Gray
 
 COMMON NAMES:
    WILD BALSAM-APPLE
    WILD CUCUMBER
 
 SYNONOMY:   None
 
 PLANTS CODE: ECLO
 
 NATURAL COMMUNITIES:
     FOREST
       FLOODPLAIN FOREST
         MESIC
       THICKETS
     WETLAND
       BORDER OF LAKE
     CULTURAL
       AGRICULTURAL FIELD
         CROPLAND
         FIELD DIVISION
       DEVELOPED LAND
 
 SAF FOREST COVER TYPE:  UNAVAILABLE
 
 NATURAL DIVISION:  UNAVAILABLE
 
 COUNTIES:
   BOONE           BUREAU          CARROLL         CASS            CHAMPAIGN
   COOK            DEKALB          DUPAGE          EDGAR           GRUNDY
   HANCOCK         HENDERSON       HENRY           IROQUOIS        JO DAVIESS
   KANE            KANKAKEE        KENDALL         LAKE            LASALLE
   LEE             LOGAN           MCHENRY         MCLEAN          MACOUPIN
   MARSHALL        MASON           MENARD          MERCER          MORGAN
   OGLE            PEORIA          ST. CLAIR       SCHUYLER        STARK
   STEPHENSON      TAZEWELL        WABASH          WARREN          WHITESIDE
   WILL            WINNEBAGO       WOODFORD
 
 GROWTH FORM:  Dicot-herb
 
 TAXONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS:
    ROOTS:  Primary
    LEAF ARRANGEMENT:   Alternate
    LEAF TYPE:   Simple
    LEAF MARGIN:   Serrate   Lobed  (palmately)
    LEAF VENATION:  Palmate
    LEAF SHAPE:       Orbicular
    INFLORESCENCE:   Raceme  Solitary- few
    FLOWER MEROUS:  Other
    FLOWER STRUCTURE:   Complete   Regular
    FLOWER COLOR:   Green   White
    FLOWER PLACEMENT:  Epigynous
    FRUIT:   Berry               -PEPO
 
 
 DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTIC COMMENTS:
     Flowers 6-merous, staminate in long racemes; fruit eventually dry and
     bursting at the summit, weakly prickly.
 
 GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION:
     ORIGIN:   Native
 
 POPULATION DYNAMICS:
     STATE STATUS: Not listed
     FEDERAL STATUS: Not listed
     COMMONNESS:  Occasional
     ENDEMIC:   NOT-ENDEMIC
 
 BIOLOGIC:
     HABIT:   Vine
     LIFE CYCLE:   Annual
     REPRODUCTION:   Sexual
     FLOWERING PERIOD:
         MONTH BEGINNING-      7         MONTH END-      9
     TROPHIC STATUS:  Autotrophic
     C02 FIXATION:  C3
     SEX:      Unisexual   -monoecious
 
 ECODISTRIBUTION COMMENTS:
     Found at base of wooded slopes.
 
 ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS:
     GROWTH OF SPECIES IN VARIOUS CONDITIONS:  No data entered
 
     HABITAT:   Moist
 
 FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS:    No data entered
 HUMAN RELATIONSHIP DATA:
     SHOWY FLOWERS:  YES     LANDSCAPING:  YES
 
 HUMAN FACTOR COMMENTS:
     Cultivated for arbors.
 
 WILDLIFE AND LIVESTOCK INFORMATION:   No data entered
 
 REVEGETATION PLANTINGS:
     WEEDINESS:   Economic
 
 
 GENERAL COMMENTS:
     Covers plants, making harvest difficult.
 
 
 REFERENCES:
Mohlenbrock, R. H., ed.  1975.  Guide to the vascular flora of Illinois.
     Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.  494 pp.
Jones, G. N.  1963.  Flora of Illinois.  Third ed.  American Midland Naturalist
     Monograph 7.  University of Notre Dame, Indiana.  401 pp.
Steyermark, J. A.  1963.  Flora of Missouri.  Iowa State University Press, Ames.
     1725 pp.
Gleason, H. A., and A. Cronquist.  1963.  Manual of vascular plants of north-
     eastern United States and adjacent Canada.  Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.,
     New York.  810 pp.
Fernald, M. L.  1950.  Gray's manual of botany.  8th ed.  American Book Co.,
     New York.  1632 pp.
Swink, F., and G. S. Wilhelm.  1979.  Plants of the Chicago region.  Third ed.
     The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois.  922 pp.
Agricultural Experiment Station.  1981.  Weeds of the North Central States.
     Bulletin 772.  College of Agriculture, University of Illinois at Urbana-
     Champaign, Urbana.  303 pp.
Downton, W. J. S.  1975.  The occurrence of C4 photosynthesis among plants.
     Photosynthetica 9(1): 96-105.
 
 END OF DATA FOR SPECIES  Echinocystis lobata
 
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 ILPIN was developed by Louis Iverson*, with data compiled by David Ketzner and Jeanne Karnes
 Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr., Champaign, IL 61820
     *currently employed by USDA Forest Service, 359 Main Rd., Delaware, OH 43015