E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Marah oregana (Torr. ex S. Watson) Howell
manroot
Cucurbitaceae (Cucumber family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Marah oregana
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Climbing perennial from an enlarged woody root; annual stems climbing or trailing with branched tendrils.

Leaves:
Stem leaves alternate, irregularly palmately lobed, stalked, bristly above, sparsely hairy below, heart-shaped at the base, about 20 cm long.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of bell-shaped flowers in a panicle; perianths bell-shaped, whitish, with 5 to 8 petals/sepals; male flowers in narrow-stalked clusters from the leaf axils; single female flowers short-stalked from the same axils as the male flowers; corolla lobes flaring, oblong egg-shaped.

Fruits:
Inflated, weakly spiny bladders, ellipsoid to oblong egg-shaped; seeds 1 or 2 in each locule, turgid, smooth.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Moist fields and open meadows and slopes in the lowland zone; rare in SW BC, known only from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands; S to N CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Native	S1	Red	E (Nov 2009)

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Marah oreganus (Torr. ex S. Watson) Howell

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

Species References

COSEWIC. 2009. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Coast Manroot Marah oreganus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 28 pp. Available online.

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2022-05-28 9:59:44 PM ]

Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.