Plant of the Week – Coyote Melon

Coyote Melon or Coyote Gourd with the scientific name Cucurbita palmata is a sprawling vine with the above-the-ground part of the plant rough to the touch usually owing to short, stiff hairs. The stiff, curling yellow flowers are 3 inches wide. The plant bears smooth spherical or almost spherical squash fruits 3 to 4 inches wide. The fruits ripen from green with greenish-white stripes to bright yellow and then pale gold when the gourd is dry. 

Cucurbita palmata, a dicot, is an annual or perennial herb that is native to the southwest and is also found in southern California, but is confined to western North America. Each member of this species group is native to the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico where they are relatively uncommon. Each group member is found in hot, arid regions with low rainfall.  They prefer soil that is loose, gravelly, and well-drained.

The fruits may be bright yellow to dark green and may have white stripes. The fruit is distasteful and not edible. The striped, green gourds are fibrous and unpalatable inside, but ground seeds were eaten by native Indians, and the dried gourds were used as rattles in dances. During fall when the melons are ripe and plentiful, the flat, watermelon-like seeds are often found in coyote scat. The gourds are often used by artists to make bowels and other decorative arts. 

Growing Height: Low to the ground 

Leaf Color: The dark green, light-veined leaves are sharply palmate with usually five long triangular points.

Flower Color: Yellow

Range: Southwestern Desert, San Joaquin Valley, Central Western California

Habitat: Sandy soil

Elevation: Below 4,000 feet

Flowering season: April to September

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