Colocynth
Citrullus colocynthis
Also known as Indian Wild Gourd, Citron, Bitter apple, Vine of Sodom
About Colocynth
Citrullus colocynthis, with many common names including colocynth, bitter apple, bitter cucumber, vine of Sodom, or wild gourd, is a poisonous desert viny plant native to the Mediterranean Basin and West Asia, especially the Levant, Turkey (especially in regions such as İzmir), and Nubia. It resembles a common watermelon vine but bears small, hard fruits with a bitter pulp. The plant contains cytotoxic cucurbitacins and is thus unsafe to use as an herbal medicine. It originally bore the scientific name Colocynthis citrullus.
Description adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Citrullus colocynthis
- Genus
- Citrullus
- Family
- CUCURBITACEAE
- Habit
- Climber
- Habitat
- Dry deciduous forests
- Distribution
- Tropics & Sub-tropics of the North Africa, Asia; Semi-arid regions of Atlantic Islands, Afganistan, Pakistan
- Flowering & fruiting
- May-October
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Local Names
- Hindi
- बड़ी इन्द्रायन Badi Indrayan, Ghorumba, इन्द्रायन Indarayan
- Bengali
- ইন্দ্রাযন Indrayan, Panjot, Indrabaruni
- Tamil
- kumatti, pey-komatti, பேய்க்குமட்டி
- Telugu
- Chitti-papara, వెర్రి పుచ్చ, ఏటి పుచ్చ
- Kannada
- Hamekkae, Hara-mekki-kayi, ಹಿಂಡಲ Hindala
- Malayalam
- കത്തുവെല്ലരീ Kattuvellari, പേക്കുമ്മട്ടി, Bitter Cucumber plant
- Marathi
- काडु इन्द्रावनी Kadu-indravani
Cucurbitaceae
Cucumber/Gourd family
Colocynth belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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