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Momordica charantia var. muricata
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Family:
CUCURBITACEAE
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Citation: Momordica charantia var. muricata (Willd.) Chakrav., Fasc. Fl. Ind. 11: 92. 1982.
Momordica muricata Willd., Sp. Pl. 4: 602. 1805.
Momordica charantia L. var. abbreviata Ser. in DC., Prodr. 3: 311. 1828; Ansari, Fl. Kasaragod Div. 178. 1985.
Momordica balsamina sensu Subram., Indian For. 96: 527. 1970, non L. 1753.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Undapaval, Kaippanpaval
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
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Description:
Annual climber with unbranched glabrous tendrils, monoecious. Stem pubescent to glabrescent. Leaves orbicular, 1.5-5.0 (-12.0) cm long and as broad, cordate, glabrous or sparsely hairy, 3-5-lobed, middle lobes broadly ovate or rhombic-ovate, sinuate-dentate or acutely lobulate. Petiole 1-3(-4) cm long, pubescent. Flowers yellow, 2.5-3.0 cm across, pedicellate. Male flowers solitary, on 1.5(-7) cm long peduncle, bearing near the apex a sessile, broadly ovate-cordate, subglabrous, dentate bract; female flowers on 5-15 mm long basally bracteate or ebracteate peduncles. Calyx tube 5-6 mm long, pubescent, lobes ovate, acuminate, 3-3.5 mm broad. Corolla slightly zygomorphic, brown at base, lobes yellow, obovate, 10-15 mm long, 8-10(-12) mm broad. Ovary fusiform, beaked, puberulous, longitudinally tuberculate. Fruit broadly ovoid, narrowed at ends, 2-7 cm long, 1-2.5 cm broad, orange-red, tuberculate. Seeds elliptic-ovate, 1-1.2 cm long, 6-7 mm broad.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
June-September
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District(s):
All Districts
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Cultivated, also run in wild
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Distribution:
Tropical countries
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Yellow
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
Yes
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
Nileswar
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