Cucumis maderaspatanus

Cucumis maderaspatanus is an annual climbing herb, growing up to 3 m long. 
It can been seen trailing along the ground or scrambling into other plants where it supports itself by means of tendrils.

The stems of Cucumis maderaspatanus can grow up to 3 m long, scrambling into other plants where it supports itself by means of tendrils. 
The tendrils are simple, opposite with the leaf and thread-like. 
The stems are succulent and green in colour. 
They are bristly and covered with thin, white hairs making the plant look prickly and rough.

The leaves of Cucumis maderaspatanus are simple, growing in an opposite arrangement. 
They are various in shape, from sagittate to hastate, triangular or ovate. 
The leaves can be almost unlobed or 3 to 5-lobed, the central lobe being the largest, with 2 or 4 smaller lateral lobes. 
The leaves are 2 to 11 cm long and 1 to 9 cm wide. 
The leaf base is deeply or shallowly heart-shaped. 
The leaf margin is wavy-toothed or irregularly lobulate-toothed. 
The leaves are rough and succulent, covered with thin hairs. 
The leaf stalk varies from 0.5 to 8 cm in length and is hairy.

The flowers of Cucumis maderaspatanus are minute, yellow-green in colour.
The flowers grow from the leaf axils placed right above the leaf, on stalks which are less than 0.5 cm long. 
There are male and female flowers. 
The male flowers have minute pedicels, dark-hairy receptacle-tube, 5 yellow petals less than 2 mm in size. 
The female flowers are found by 5 to 10 in separate clusters on minute pedicels. 
The ovary is green, globose, shortly beaked, bristly with dark forward-pointing hairs.

The fruits of Cucumis maderaspatanus are subglobose berries, with very short stalks. 
They are growing in leaf axils, placed right above the leaves, in small clusters of 1 to 5. 
They are green with pale longitudinal markings, when young, turning red in colour at maturity. 
They are bristly with white minute hairs.
The berry is about 1 cm across. 
The fruit is poisonous to humans and cattle.

The seeds of Cucumis maderaspatanus are small and ovate in shape.
They are less than 5 mm across, about twice as long as broad. 
They are bordered and scrobiculate, which means they have numerous shallow grooves.