Pixel Wild
Cucumber Root
Cucumber Root
Medeola virginiana
Plantae
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
Perennial
Size
Small
Diet
Photosynthetic
Biome
Temperate forest
Range
Eastern North America
Movement
Sessile
Breeding
Seeds
Defense
Camouflage
Status
Common

About

A woodland perennial with a whorl of leaves partway up its stem and a second smaller whorl at the top cradling small yellow-green flowers, later replaced by dark purple berries. Its white rhizome tastes and smells like cucumber, giving the plant its name.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    seed
    A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
  2. 2.
    sprout
    A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
  3. 3.
    sapling
    A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
  4. 4.
    mature
    Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Tracheophyta
Class
Liliopsida
Order
Liliales
Family
Liliaceae
Genus
Medeola
Species
Medeola virginiana