Megarrhiza
(from megas, large, and rhiza, root; alluding to the large tuberous rootstock). ORD. Cucurbitaceae. A curious and interesting, rather than handsome, hardy tuberous perennial, now included under Echinocystis. The plant thrives in a good light soil. Propagated by sowing seeds, in a gentle heat, in spring. This species is peculiar in the thick fleshy cotyledons of the large, turgid, emarginate seeds remaining under the ground in germination. M. californica (Californian). fl., males small, racemose; females solitary, produced on stalks at the base of the raceme of the males. fr. roundish or oblong, about 2in. in length, densely covered with spines, and very closely resembling a sweet chestnut. l. glossy, silvery, palmately lobed. California, 1880.