WILDFLOWERS OF NEW MEXICO

Often climbing into mesquite, creosote bush, and allthorn with twisting tendrils, this slender vine has small, yellow flowers and showy red, marble-sized fruit. Note the leaves with 5 narrow, finger-like lobes. Rootstock forms a turnip-shaped root crown to 4-inches wide.

FLOWERS: June–August. Male an female flowers on separate plants. Female flowers tubular, to 3/8-inch long (8 mm), with 5 spreading, hairy, fringed petals. Fruit smooth, round, averaging 3/8-inch diameter (15 mm), green with stripes or spots, maturing bright red.

LEAVES: Alternate. Blades to 2 3/8-inches wide (6 cm), palmlately divided into 5 narrow lobes, each less than 3/16-inch wide (5 mm) and terminating in coarse teeth or pitchfork-like divisions; surfaces hairless.

HABITAT: Sandy, gravelly soils; desert grasslands and scrub.

ELEVATION: 2,900–4,800 feet.

RANGE: AZ, NM, TX.

SIMILAR SPECIES: The finger-like leaf lobes and smooth, round, red fruit distinguish this vine.

NM COUNTIES: Southern NM in low-elevation, desert habitats: Chaves, Dona Ana, Eddy, Hidalgo, Guadalupe, Lea, Luna, Otero, Sierra.