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Indian cucumber root is the common name of <i>medeola virginiana</i>. The name comes from the taste of the edible root. It is native from Nova Scotia to Minnesota to Indiana and southward.

Indian Cucumber Root

Indian cucumber root is the common name of medeola virginiana. The name comes from the taste of the…

An illustration showing both the flower (a) and fruit (b) of the Indian Cucumber-root plant. Medeola virginiana or Indian Cucumber-root is a perennial plant in the genus Medeola. It occurs with either a single tier or two tiers of leaves. The upper tier consists of from three to five whorled leaves on the stem above a lower tier of five to nine (also whorled). Only the two-tiered plants produce flowers which are green-to-yellow and appear from May to June. When two-tiered, it grows up to 30 inches high. The waxy leaves are typically 2.5 inches long and about an inch wide, but can be as long as five inches. The leaves have an entire margin. It typically produces three dark blue to purple, inedible berries above the top tier of leaves in September.

Indian Cucumber-root

An illustration showing both the flower (a) and fruit (b) of the Indian Cucumber-root plant. Medeola…