Flora of North America species comparison

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Momordica charantia

Momordica charantia subsp. charantia

balsam-pear, bitter-melon
Photo is of parent taxon
Stems

glabrous or hairy.
Leaves

petiole 1.5–3.5(–6) cm;

blade suborbiculate to orbiculate, deeply palmately 5–7-lobed, 5–10(–12) cm, base cordate, lobes ovate-oblong or ovate-elliptic, sinuses 50–90% to base, margins coarsely and widely dentate to crenate-dentate, leaf lobes and teeth sometimes submucronate, not apiculate, surfaces glabrous or sparsely hairy.
Inflorescences

staminate peduncles bracteate at or proximal to middle, bracts sessile, reniform or orbiculate-cordate, margins entire; pistillate peduncles ebracteate.
Fruits

red or orange to yellow-orange, cylindric or ellipsoidal to oblong-fusiform or ovoid, 7–25 cm, beak becoming less prominent at maturity, surface usually minutely tuberculate to muricate and muriculate, sometimes irregularly smooth-ridged.
Seeds

oblong, 10–15 mm.
Petals

bright yellow, obovate to oblong-obovate, 7–25 mm.
2n

= 22.

Momordica charantia

Momordica charantia subsp. charantia
Phenology Flowering Apr–Nov.
Habitat Disturbed areas, roadsides, fencerows, thickets, hammock edges, fields, ditches, canal banks, shell mounds, orange groves, sand pine scrub, flatwoods, floodplain woods
Elevation 10–200 m (0–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; CT; FL; GA; LA; PA; Africa
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; CT; FL; GA; LA; PA; Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, South America, Europe, se Asia, Pacific Islands, Australia]
Discussion

Subspecies 2 (1 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

No documentation has been found for a report of Momordica charantia in Texas. The species is apparently becoming common in Florida, where it is known to be naturalized in many counties. It is grown as a crop in many countries for the young fruits, which are edible before an extreme bitterness develops in the mature fruits.

Two forms of Momordica charantia in the New World can be distinguished: the ubiquitous weed of the humid lowland tropics and subtropics, growing spontaneously and not cultivated or eaten except occasionally and opportunistically for the pulp; and the domesticated forms, which are seen in Asian markets. The cultivated forms do not escape (M. Nee, pers. comm.).

Momordica charantia subsp. macroloba Achigan-Dako & Blattner is endemic to the Dahomey Gap and Sudano-Guinean phytoregion of Benin and Togo in west-central Africa.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 8. FNA vol. 6, p. 8.
Parent taxa Cucurbitaceae > Momordica Cucurbitaceae > Momordica > Momordica charantia
Sibling taxa
M. balsamina
Subordinate taxa
M. charantia subsp. charantia
Synonyms M. charantia var. abbreviata
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 1009. (1753) [F I]
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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