Sicyos angulatus, common name "bur cucumber", is an annual plant with a similar clinging vine growth but different-appearing flowers and seed pods.

Echinocystis lobata is an annual vine that produces stems that can be as long as 8 m (26 ft) and which climb, with the help of coiling, branched tendrils, over shrubs and fences or trail across the ground.

[5] This species can be distinguished from the oneseed bur cucumber (Sicyos angulatus) by the six-lobed corolla and the lack of the clustered fruits that that plant bears.

[2] It also appears similar to Marah macrocarpa (also known as wild cucumber) a large-rooted perennial plant which has a six-lobed corolla as well and is found in Southern California chaparral where E. lobata is not.

[10] This vine has been reported as a food source and host plant for the leaf-footed bug Anasa repetita, which feeds along the entire length of the stem and at the developing roots.

The Taos Pueblo of New Mexico used it to treat rheumatism, while the Menominee of Wisconsin made a bitter extract from the roots for use as a love potion and as an analgesic.