Bitter melon is a climbing vine in the gourd family grown for its warty green fruit, which is eaten unripe and is famously bitter. It is native to tropical Africa and Asia; in the US it is grown as a garden and market vegetable. It is also called bitter gourd.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A tendril-climbing vine up to about 16 ft (5 m) long.
- Leaves
- Leaves are 1.5–4.5 in (4–12 cm) across, deeply cut into 3–7 (sometimes up to 9) lobes, and smell unpleasant when crushed.
- Flowers
- Yellow, five-petaled flowers; each plant has separate male and female flowers.
- Fruit
- Oblong, warty, and hollow inside. Common Chinese-type fruits are 8–12 in (20–30 cm) long, while small types are only 2.5–4 in (6–10 cm). Ripe fruits turn orange, split open, and show seeds wrapped in bright red pulp.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Vegetable gardens
- Fences and trellises
- Disturbed sites (Hawaii, Florida)
- Range
- Native from tropical Africa and Asia to the South Pacific. In the US it grows wild in Hawaii, where it is naturalized on all the main islands, and in Florida, where it is recorded through central and south Florida and in a few Panhandle counties.
- Preferred conditions
- Frost-tender. It grows as a perennial in the tropics and as an annual elsewhere. In Florida it moves into scrub, hammock edges, pinelands, coastal strands, and swamp edges, especially where the canopy has been opened.
Life cycle
- Seed dispersal
- Birds and other animals eat the red-coated seeds and spread them, which helps the vine escape from gardens.
Cautions
- Cautions
- The ripe fruit and mature seeds are considered toxic. Bitter melon is not recommended during pregnancy, and concentrated juice or seeds can lower blood sugar too much in people taking diabetes medication.
Name and classification
- About the name
- In Florida, this species is sometimes listed as "balsam apple," a name more often used for its relative Momordica balsamina. Other names include balsam pear and karela.
- Varieties and forms
- Long-fruited cultivated types and small, round-fruited wild types are both common; Indian-type fruits are narrow with jagged ridges, Chinese types are longer and pale green.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
- Status
- Rated Category II by the Florida Invasive Species Council, where it was first noted escaping cultivation in 1993. In Hawaii, a weed risk assessment rates it high risk.
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- It is a staple of many cuisines: Indian karela dishes, Chinese stir-fries with pork, Filipino ampalaya with eggs, and Okinawan gōyā champurū.
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