Sicyos angulatus, the oneseed bur cucumber or star-cucumber is an annual vine in the gourd family, Cucurbitaceae, native to eastern North America. The plant forms mats or climbs using tendrils. The leaves are palmately veined and lobed, the flowers are green to yellowish green, and the fruits form clusters of very small pepos.
he vine produces long branching annual stems that climb over shrubs and fences or trail across the ground. The stems are hairy, pale green and furrowed. The alternate leaves have three to five palmate lobes and can be 8 in (20 cm) across. The margin is slightly toothed, the upper surface of the blade is usually hairless and the under side has fine hairs, especially on the veins.
The petiole is thick and hairy, and about 5 in (13 cm) long. The leaf is deeply indented where it is attached to the petiole. Opposite some of the junctions formed by the petiole and stem, grow branched tendrils, and at others there are flower shoots. The flowers are monoecious, with separate male and female blooms. The male flowers are in long-stemmed racemes. Each flower is about 0.3 in (0.8 cm) wide, with a calyx with five pointed teeth, a whitish, green-veined corolla with five lobes, and a central boss of stamens.
This plant is useful.
How to get rid of:
Hand-digging weeds works best with smaller shrubs, non-woody stemmed vines or bunching perennial grasses. It also can be effective with young starts of larger plants, such as small saplings or vines.
