What is that??

BY BONNIE KAY BALDWIN
LAKE MILLS GRAPHIC
If you have been driving along the country roads and highways the past few weeks, you may have noticed a prolific vine with yellow-white blossoms and a green prickly kind of fruit. It can be found in ditches and other areas, winding its way up and over weeds, grass, and branches of bushes and trees, as well as edging farmland. It is called wild cucumber, and it is very prominent this summer.
According to Winnebago County Conservation Director Robert Schwartz, its prominence could be due to the wet season(s) we had—both spring and summer, and although agressive, it is not considered invasive.
So, unlike kudzu, the invasive Asian plant (which was suggested that Southern farmers plant especially from 1935-1950s to combat soil erosion), wild cucumber, which are native to North America, will not kill the plants or trees it covers, although it can block the sunshine from getting through to the original plant.  
Despite the fact that this vine resembles a cucumber vine, and the fruit of a cucumber, the fruit is considered inedible. And while some may consider it an ornamental plant, most find it a pesky weed and pull it off whatever they can, as soon as possible.