Coastal Manroot Seeds (Marah oreganus) (aka, the blackberry strangler)

Named for enormous underground tubers that can grow to the size of an adult human, this exceptional native cucumber relative is a perennial vine.

All parts of the plant are poisonous and not a human food source, including the prickly, round cucumber-like fruits. But the white flowers attract diverse and interesting assemblages of slightly less common pollinators, especially quite expansive types of small syrphid flies.

Perhaps the most extraordinary thing about manroot however is its ability to swallow up and smother invasive Himalayan blackberry thickets. A guerilla gardener in Seattle has used it to this end by interplanting in neglected inner-city landscapes where blackberry was not being controlled. Today those neglected blackberry patches are covered by this beautiful native vine.

Occurring from central California northward to British Columbia, manroot typically shows up along exposed bluffs, around the edges of hardwood tree habitats – in rocky outcroppings among Garry oak and madrona, as well as in river bottoms alongside cottonwoods.

The potential placement and landscaping uses of this plant are fascinating. 

8 to 10 large seeds (12-grams).