45ac3812_des_Peninsula_Land_Conservancy__Notes_on_the_species
[Species] manroot or wild cucumber (Marah macrocarpus) [Notes on the species] 
The tendrils of this climbing plant start growing soon after winter rains commence. The small white flowers quickly turn into prickly green pods. By summer, the only remnant of this plant are the dried leaves draped over another shrub and the occasional pod, now brown and empty of seeds. Stranger still is the unseen root that can be more than three feet in diameter.
Education & Research: Native Plants | Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy
Notes on the species