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Citrullus colocynthis
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Family:
CUCURBITACEAE
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Citation: Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad., Linnaea 12: 414. 1838; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 2: 620. 1879; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 536(378). 1919; Chakrav., Fasc. Fl. Ind. 11: 20. 1982; Sasidh., Fl. Periyar Tiger Reserve 153. 1998.
Cucumis colocynthis L., Sp. Pl. 1011. 1753.
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Malayalam Name(s):
Pekumatti, Kattuvellari
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Tamil name(s):
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English name(s):
Colocynth, Citron, Bitter apple, Vine of Sodom
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Description:
Perennial trailing herbs with somewhat woody tuberous root; stems shortly hairy when young becoming scabrid. Tendrils simple, rarely bifid, slender, glabrous. Leas alternate, elongate-ovate in outline, 10-60 (-110) mm long, 8-55 (-66) mm broad, distinctly scabrid-hairy beneath, smooth except on the nerves above, palmately deeply 3-5-lobed, ultimate lobes pinnately lobulate with central lobe longest, long-ovate in outline; petiole rather densely rough-hairy; probracts lanceolate-elliptic, 4-5 mm long and c. l. 5 mm broad, caducous. Male flowers on long pedicels; calyx campanulate, c. 9 (4-8) mm long, lobes c. 5 mm broad; corolla pale yellow, ovate-acute, c. 8 mm long and c. 5 mm broad. Female flowers on longer pedicels than male, receptacle-tube short, lobes lanceolate, c. 5 mm long; ovary hairy, subglobose or obovate. Fruits c. 5 cm in diameter, globose, smooth, longitudinally green striped, 5-7 cm in diameter, eipcarp thin, filled with a dry spongy very bitter pulp; seeds numerous, ovate-oblong, yellowish brown, not margined, c. 6 mm long and c. 3 mm broad.
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Habit:
Climber
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Flowering & Fruiting:
May-October
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District(s):
Idukki
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Medicinal:
Yes
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Habitat:
Dry deciduous forests
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Distribution:
Tropical and Subtropical North Africa and Asia
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Aquatic:
No
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Epiphyte(s):
No
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Saprophyte:
No
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Stem parasite:
No
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Root parasite:
No
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Flower colour(s):
Yellow
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Weed:
No
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Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
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Exotic:
No
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Garden:
No
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Edible:
No
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Vegetable:
No
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Endemic to:
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IUCN status:
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Altitude:
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Localities:
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