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- ›flowering plants
- ›Dicots
- ›begonias, gourds, and allies
- ›gourd family
- ›Momordiceae
- ›Momordica
Bitter Melon
Momordica charantia
Momordica charantia, known as bitter melon, bitter gourd, bitter squash, or balsam-pear, 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. It is sometimes known by names loaned from Asian languages.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the old herbals & bestiaries
Six Groups of the History of Plants
Rembert Dodoens · 1583 · p.680
Compendium of Materia Medica: Illustrated Volume Middle of Middle
李時珍 · 1596 · p.121
Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica (Vol. 22)
吳其濬 · 1848 · p.74
Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica (Vol. 20)
吳其濬 · 1848 · p.31
Illustrated Compendium of Materia Medica (Vol. 5)
吳其濬 · 1848 · p.17
Complete Treatise on Agricultural Administration
Xu Guangqi · 1909 · p.738
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Momordica charantia in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 61369.