Ban Karela / Teasle Gourd
Momordica dioica
- Habit
- Climber
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat & more
- Flowering
- July-October
How to identify Ban Karela
Identify Ban Karela by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a climber habit.
- Confirm flower colour: Yellow.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: July-October.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Cucurbitaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Ban Karela.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Momordica dioica
- Genus
- Momordica
- Family
- Cucurbitaceae
- Habit
- Climber
- Habitat
- Deciduous and semi-Evergreen forests, also in the plains
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Sri Lanka, Himalayas, Myanmar, China, Malaysia
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, West Bengal, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh
- Flowering & fruiting
- July-October
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Typical of the Cucurbitaceae family — a field-mark hint, not measured for this exact species.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower colour
- Yellowrecorded
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Solitary
- Fruit
- Berry
Characters marked “recorded” are for Ban Karela itself; the rest are typical of the Cucurbitaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- बन करेला Ban karela, kaksa, ककोड़ा
- Nepali
- वन करेला
- Bengali
- কাঁকরোল, কাকরোল
- Tamil
- தும்பை
- Telugu
- ఆగాకర, మొమోర్డికా డయాకా
- Kannada
- ಮಡಿಹಾಗಲು Madihaagalu, ಮಡಹಾಗಲ Madahaagala, ಮಡವಾಗಲ್
- Malayalam
- എരുമപ്പാവൽ, Momordica dioica, എരുമപാവൽ
- Marathi
- करटोली Kartoli, करटोली, करतुली
- Sinhala
- තුඹ කරවිල
About Ban Karela
Teasle Gourd (Momordica dioica) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, where it grows as a climber. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and 23 other states. It grows in deciduous and semi-Evergreen forests, also in the plains. Flowering and fruiting run from July to October.
Cucurbitaceae
Cucumber/Gourd family
Ban Karela belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Cucurbitaceae familySnap it. Know it.
Point your camera at Ban Karela or any plant and SASYA identifies it instantly — on-device, offline, and private.
Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guides