Cucurbita palmata

Coyote Melon grows in many soils from the edge of the coastal sage scrub through the desert into Nevada and Arizona. A native gourd that develops a large root that supports the rather weird moth Melittia gloriosa. Also found in disturbed, sunny openings, or shade of boulders in creosote woodland; growing with Physalis crassifolia, Encelia farinosa, Sphaeralcea ambigua var. rosacea, Salazaria mexicana, Xylorhiza tortifolia, Atriplex hymenelytra, Nicotiana obtusifolia, Peucephyllum schottii, and Larrea tridentata.