While hiking on our property in late June, Mary and I came across this vine with bright orange/red fruit. Of course we couldn't miss it, but I've never seen one on our property before, or anywhere else for that matter. It was growing along a dirt road at the edge of our property and we frequently walk along it, but without the fruit, we probably wouldn't notice the vine.
I went back out the next morning and took these photos and looked around further. It's the only one in the area. It's growing up a small oak tree. The vine goes up about 7 to 8 feet and has about a dozen fruit on it, each about 2 to 3 inches in diameter.
You can see the curly tendrils which the vine uses to grasp the tree. In this photo, the fruit look like a string of Christmas lights.
I identified it as
Lindheimer's globeberry. It's a native plant and a member of the gourd family which includes cucumber, squash, watermelon, and cantaloupe.
Since it's the only one I saw in the area, I think a bird may have eaten the seeds elsewhere and then dropped them under the oak tree. The vines are perennial and die back each winter, but may take several years to develop to the point where they bear fruit.
But can you eat it?
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