Momordica
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Momordica is a genus of about 45 species of annual or perennial climbing herbaceous plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae, natives of tropical Africa and southern Asia. Some species produce floral oils and are visited by specialist pollinators in the apid group Ctenoplectrini.
[edit] Cultivation and uses
Momordica are grown in cultivation as ornamental plants, grown for their fleshy fruit, which are oblong to cylindrical in shape, orange to red in colour, prickly or warted externally, and burst when ripe, generally with elastic force, into irregular valves.
- Selected species
- Momordica balsamina
- Momordica cardiospermoides
- Momordica charantia (Bitter melon)
- Momordica cochinchinensis
- Momordica foetida
- Momordica grosvenori
- Momordica involucrata
- Momordica rostrata
