Vigorous but slender climber to 5 m long, lanate or (finely) hairy on the nodes, later scabrous or glabrescent. Tendrils (1-or) 2-branched. Leaves: petiole 1-5 cm long; blade triangular or ovate in outline, 6-9 cm long, 3-or 5-lobed up to halfway deep, lobes triangular, acute, margin finely dentate. Male inflorescences condensed 10-20-flowered racemes or few-branched panicles, 1-2.5 cm long, shorter than the leaves. Male flowers: pedicel 1-3 mm long; receptacle-tube c. 1.5 mm diam.; sepals less than 1 mm long, or ± absent; petals green-yellow, triangular, c. 1 by 1 mm, finely papillate; anther circular, horizontal, c. 0.5 mm diam., opening with a circular slit. Female flowers: pedicel 3-7 mm long; ovary obliquely ovoid, style short, stigma broadly rounded. Fruit ripening green, 2-3 cm long, ovoid-reniform, with soft spines; fruiting pedicel 1-3 cm long. Seeds c. 8 per fruit, blackish brown, 9-14 by 6-8 mm, ± 5-angled, 3-(or 5-)toothed at base, 3-toothed at apex.
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A pumpkin family plant. It grows each year from seeds. The vines are 3 m long. It can climb over other plants using tendrils. The fruit explode to release the seeds. The fruit are 2-4 cm long.
A tropical plant. It grows in shrubland. It grows between 800-3,500 m above sea level. It can tolerate some cold. It is best in a warm sunny position in a rich, well-drained soil.
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Thickets, at elevations from 800-2,000 metres in Guatemala. Shrublands in the Andes at elevations of 1,500-3,500 metres.
Shrublands in the Andes at elevations of 1500-3500 metres.
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