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Momordica charantia
Also called Balsam Pear, Bitter Melon, Bitter Cucumber, Bitter Gourd, Lizzard Food, Lizzard Pepper, Maiden Apple
Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is a fast-growing tropical climbing vine grown mainly for its warty, bitter fruit eaten green or just beginning to yellow. Grow it in warm, frost-free conditions with plenty of sun and something to climb on.
Momordica charantia (commonly called bitter melon, gouya, cerassee, goya, bitter apple, bitter gourd, bitter squash, balsam-pear, karela, karavila and many more names listed below) is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean for its edible fruit. Its many varieties differ substantially in the shape and bitterness of the fruit.
Its native range is distributed from Tropical and Subtropical Old World to South Pacific.
A possible side effect is gastrointestinal discomfort. The ripe fruit and the mature seeds are toxic.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Momordica charantia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
