Momordica dioica

Momordica dioica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Cucurbitales
Family:	Cucurbitaceae
Genus:	Momordica
Species:	M. dioica
Binomial name
Momordica dioica Roxb. ex Willd.

Momordica dioica, Bristly Balsam Pear, commonly known as spiny gourd or spine gourd and also known as prickly carolaho, Teasle gourd, kantola, is a species of flowering plant in the gourd family. It is used as a vegetable in all regions of India and some parts in South Asia. It has commercial importance and is exported and used locally. The fruits are cooked with spices,or fried and sometimes eaten with meat or fish.

In Sanskrit it is called as Karot in Meiteilon (Manipur)karkotaki(कर्कोटकी), karkoti(कर्कोटी). In Tamil it is called as மெழுகுபாகல் mezhuku-pakal, பழுபாகல் pazhu-pakal. In Oriya it is called Kankada.In Assamese it is called bhat-kerela and in Bengali kakrul or ghi korola. In Telugu it is called boda kakara and on the east coast of Andhra it is called aa-kakara-kaya. In Gujarati it is called Kankoda and is cooked the same way Karela is cooked. In Sri Lanka,it is known as 'Thumba' or 'Thumba Karavila'('තුඹ කරවිල ') in Sinhalese.^[1] In Marathi it is called 'Kartole' and in Mizo as maitamtawk. In Kannada it is called mada haagala kaayi (ಮಡ ಹಾಗಲಕಾಯಿ or ಸಿಹಿ ಹಾಗಲಕಾಯಿ). In Chhattisgarhi it is called 'Kheksi'. In Myanmar, it is called 'ဟင်းခပေါင်း'. In Konkani, it is called phaagil/phagla.

It is propagated by underground tubers. It has small leaves, small yellow flowers, it has small, dark green, round or oval fruits.^[2] It is dioecious,^[2] which means that it has distinct male and female individual organisms, hence its name.

flower of Momordica dioica

References

External links

• ITIS Report
• Photo
• Phyto-pharmacology of Momordica dioica Roxb. ex. Willd: A Review. International Journal of Phytomedicine.