Indian Cucumber Root

Indian Cucumber Root

Medeola virginiana

Other names: Indian Cucumber, Cucumber Root

Family: Liliaceae (Lily Family)

Range: Eastern North America

Native: Native

Native Habitat: Woodland understories

Bloom Time: May to June

Notes:

The common name for this plant comes from the cucumber flavored root, which was foraged by Native Americans. (It’s no longer recommended for foraging because of its scarcity.)

This plant can be hard to spot in the spring – it’s very green, and blends into the other plants around it. I do find that once I find one, and get the leaf and flower shade fixed in my head, I suddenly see a whole bunch more. It’s fairly tall as spring woodland wildflowers go, so that also helps me spot it.

It’s easier to spot in the fall, when the lovely blue berries have matured. The leaves around those berries also darken to red and the outer edges change to yellow.

Medeola is named in honor the Greek sorceress Medea, in honor of the plant’s perceived medicinal uses. Virginiana is a common name given to plants native to eastern US, including Virginia. This is the only species in this genus. In the past, this plant was considered to be in the same family as Trillium andParis, but it was moved to the lily family. At the same time, other species assigned to the genus were moved to the asparagus family.