Wild cucumbers prefer moist soil and are often found in low ground near swamps or roadside ditches. It was a wet spring so that may be why they are so prolific this year.
Wild cucumbers' pale green, fragrant flowers begin to bloom in mid to late summer. Each plant has both male and female flowers so they do not need another plant to be pollinated. The fruit is a small oval pod covered with prickles. While it is related to the cultivated cucumber and its first leaves look just like a cucumber growing, it is not edible. The pods dry nicely for flower arrangements, however.
The interior of the fruit has interwoven fibers (like a very small loofa gourd, another member of the cucumber family). Each fruit contains four large, flat seeds. As the fruit ripens the fibers tighten until it explodes and ejects the seeds as far as 20 feet. To save the seed it would be necessary to put a bag over the pod before the seeds are expelled. The seeds can used as beads for jewelry.
There are other plants in the cucumber family that are also called a wild cucumber and some are said to be edible. These do not grow in Minnesota. The wild cucumber grown here is not edible.
The interior of the fruit has interwoven fibers (like a very small loofa gourd, another member of the cucumber family). Each fruit contains four large, flat seeds. As the fruit ripens the fibers tighten until it explodes and ejects the seeds as far as 20 feet. To save the seed it would be necessary to put a bag over the pod before the seeds are expelled. The seeds can used as beads for jewelry.
There are other plants in the cucumber family that are also called a wild cucumber and some are said to be edible. These do not grow in Minnesota. The wild cucumber grown here is not edible.
While they do not kill the plants they are attached to, they can shade the foliage to such a degree that the plants are unable to carry out photosynthesis. This is especially hard on evergreen trees. Plant a wild cucumber vine at your own risk! The panoramic series above is of a cute little alcove filled with cucumber vines. There really is a tree and house under there!