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The red or orange, leathery berries are pointed-humped, ellipsoid and short-beaked with a length of 4.5 to 7 centimeters. When the fruit ripens, it open with three flaps and release the many seeds. The up to about 1 centimeter large, elliptical and brownish, sculpted seeds are each covered in a red,
342:
by 1568 and was used medicinally to treat wounds. Oleum
Momordicae was understood in pharmacy as tree oil poured onto the fruits of Momordica balsamina. The fruit and leaves are used as a soap substitute. The plant sap can be used medicinally or as a metal cleaner, and it is also processed into an
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Some people indicated that the outer rind and the seeds of the fruit are poisonous, however the Tsonga people found in the northern region of southern Africa eat the leaves of the plant along with the fruit which bears its name. The balsam apple was introduced into
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divided and five to seven lobes and the leaf lobes are each multiply lobed or remotely sharp-toothed. The leaf margins are entire and often pointed on the lobe tips or teeth. The thin
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and leaf blade. The hairy petiole is short. The soft, thin leaf blade is up to 12 centimeters in size, heart-shaped and broadly ovate to rounded in outline. The sparsely hairy
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has five lobes. The corolla is white or yellow. The female flowers are short-stalked, the ovary is inferior and single-chambered and slightly below the calyx. The
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It is a climbing annual to perennial herb up to 5 meters long. Its stem is thin, angular and slightly hairy. The alternately arranged leaves are divided into
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281:, or "apples". When ripe, the fruits burst apart, revealing numerous seeds covered with a brilliant scarlet, extremely sticky coating.
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may be present. The male flowers are longer-stalked and have five fused, fused stamens in threes, with feathery and branching
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in Asia, Australia, Central
America, and North America, where they have been found in some parts of Florida. In 1810,
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52:
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are balsamina or southern balsam pear. It is known in Africa under a broad range of names, e.g. in
Mozambique as
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522:. Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Vol. 2. Wageningen, Netherlands: PROTA Foundation. pp. 384–5.
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CRC World
Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology
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plant, its flowers, some of which have long stalks, appear individually, laterally, each with a
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Nelson, Lewis S.; Shih, Richard D.; Balick, Michael J.; New York
Botanical Garden (2007).
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share some common names: African cucumber, balsam apple, and balsam pear. Other names for
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For the closely related vine known for its bitter and edible fruit, see
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488:. Vol. III. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. p. 1711.
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native to the tropical regions of Africa, introduced and
376:.In Hausa language it is known as Garahuni or Garafuni
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309:is three-branched with a divided scar per branch.
454:(2nd ed.). New York: Springer. p. 217.
297:. The single flowers are fivefold with a double
8:
516:Grubben, G.J.H.; Denton, O.A., eds. (2004).
1025:Plants used in traditional African medicine
214:planted this vine in his flower borders at
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451:Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants
38:
27:
277:and round, somewhat warty, bright orange
399:
7:
878:3738273f-19b6-4ac2-810a-bba4ff894f0d
567:West African plants – A Photo Guide.
273:It has pale yellow, deeply veined
14:
321:appendages can be formed inside.
943:urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:293397-1
436:Balsam Apple Momordica balsamina
51:
325:sticky seed coat "pulp" (false
1:
482:Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000).
1015:Fruits originating in Africa
1035:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
554:University Of South Florida
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416:Plants of the World Online
250:Scarlet-colored ripe fruit
242:View of leaves and flowers
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16:Species of flowering plant
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48:Scientific classification
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1030:Plants described in 1753
372:and in South Africa as
317:. At the bottom of the
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270:are simple and long.
249:
241:
199:is a tendril-bearing
741:Momordica balsamina
676:Momordica_balsamina
616:Momordica balsamina
586:Momordica balsamina
562:Momordica balsamina
410:Momordica balsamina
387:Momordica charantia
361:Momordica charantia
356:Momordica balsamina
301:. The finely hairy
285:Reproductive traits
196:Momordica balsamina
179:Momordica balsamina
32:Momordica balsamina
21:Momordica charantia
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1002:
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899:Open Tree of Life
578:Taxon identifiers
529:978-90-5782-147-9
461:978-0-387-31268-2
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161:M. balsamina
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170:Binomial name
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533:. Retrieved
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499:. Retrieved
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465:. Retrieved
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421:25 September
419:. Retrieved
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366:M. balsamina
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345:arrow poison
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127:Cucurbitales
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917:kew-2372858
837:NatureServe
785:iNaturalist
610:Wikispecies
234:Description
218:along with
91:Angiosperms
1009:Categories
912:Plant List
535:August 11,
519:Vegetables
467:August 11,
394:References
311:Staminodes
291:monoecious
260:leaf blade
216:Monticello
1020:Momordica
728:220008723
710:FloraBase
264:palmately
155:Species:
148:Momordica
61:Kingdom:
964:Tropicos
842:2.129243
816:10587838
803:293397-1
671:eFloraSA
601:Q2672305
595:Wikidata
380:See also
299:perianth
268:tendrils
220:larkspur
208:invasive
133:Family:
104:Eudicots
969:9200483
863:NTFlora
764:2874582
501:Aug 11,
327:arillus
319:stamens
315:anthers
275:flowers
256:petiole
224:poppies
143:Genus:
123:Order:
65:Plantae
956:1930-2
925:PLANTS
904:955518
891:119881
875:NZOR:
790:165503
751:MOMBAL
748:FoIO:
689:584305
634:APDB:
624:AoFP:
526:
492:
458:
370:cacana
340:Europe
307:stylus
279:fruits
228:nutmeg
226:, and
201:annual
117:Rosids
976:WoI:
951:SANBI
829:22398
811:IRMNG
777:24519
736:FoAO2
702:MOMBA
663:43YYC
650:97560
637:25993
374:nkaka
351:Names
303:calyx
295:bract
111:Clade
98:Clade
85:Clade
72:Clade
979:1744
938:POWO
930:MOBA
868:1478
855:3672
850:NCBI
824:ITIS
798:IPNI
772:GRIN
759:GBIF
715:7378
697:EPPO
645:APNI
627:1746
537:2011
524:ISBN
503:2011
490:ISBN
469:2011
456:ISBN
423:2021
333:Uses
204:vine
987:WFO
723:FNA
684:EoL
658:CoL
565:in
329:).
262:is
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289:A
230:.
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186:L.
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23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
