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Momordica charantia L., Sp. Pl. 1009 1753. (syn. Cucumis argyi H.Lév., Cucumis intermedius M.Roem.; Momordica chinensis Spreng.; Momordica elegans Salisb.; Momordica indica L.; Momordica muricata Willd.; Momordica operculata Vell.; Momordica sinensis Spreng.; Sicyos fauriei H. Lév.);
. mo-MOR-di-ka — from the word to bite, reference to the seeds which look bitten char-AN-tee-a — a pre-Linnean name, used as the specific epithet of Momordica charantia .. Dave’s Botanary . commonly known as: balsam pear, bitter gourd • Assamese: কেৰেলা karela • Bengali: করলা karala • Gujarati: કારેલું karelu • Hindi: करेला karela, कठिल्ल kathilla, परारु poraru • Kannada: ಹಾಗಲಕಾಯಿ haagalakaayi • Kashmiri: करेल् karel • Konkani: काराते kaaraate • Lushai: chang-kha • Malayalam: കയ്പ്പ kayppa, പാവയ്ക്ക pavaykka • Manipuri: কারোন অখাবী karon akhabi • Marathi: आंबलें ambalem, कारली karali, कारेती kareti • Mizo: changkha • Nepalese: अमला amala, करेलो karelo • Oriya: changkha • Punjabi: ਕਰੇਲਾ karela • Sanskrit: कारवेल्लकः kaarvellakah, कटिल्लः kathillah, परारु paraaru, सुषवी sushavi, ऊर्ध्वासितः urdhvaasitah • Sindhi: ڪَريلو karelo • Tamil: இராசவள்ளி iraca-valli, பாகற்காய் pagakkai • Telugu: కాకర kakara • Tibetan: su sa ba • Tulu: ಕಂಚಲ kanchala • Urdu: کريلا karela . Native to: tropics of Africa and Asia; naturalized and cultivated elsewhere . Commonly cultivated vine with longer fruits reaching 25 cm in length, oblong-fusiform in shape, tubercled surface and red pulp when ripe.
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Edible use:
… unripe fruit (as VEGETABLE)
… generally consumed cooked in the green or early yellowing stage. The young shoots and leaves of the bitter melon are also be eaten as greens … Wikipedia .
Momordica charantia from Delhi
Commonly cultivated as fruit vegetable, often grown on walls, fences or support. Common English Names: bitter gourd, bitter melon, bitter-cucumber, carilla gourd, balsam-apple, balsam-pear Hindi: Karela . fruits & vegetables :: NATIVE, CULTIVATED :: Cucurbitaceae » Momordica charantia: Cucurbitaceae (pumpkin, or gourd family) » Momordica charantia
Synonyms: Momordica muricata, Momordica zeylanica mo-MOR-di-ka — from the word to bite, reference to the seeds which look bitten
char-AN-tee-a — a pre-Linnean name, used as the specific epithet of Momordica charantia Native to: tropics of Africa and Asia; naturalized and cultivated elsewhere
Edible use:
… unripe fruit (as VEGETABLE)
… generally consumed cooked in the green or early yellowing stage. The young shoots and leaves of the bitter melon are also be eaten as greens … Wikipedia some facts:
… the original home of the species is not known, other than that it is a native of the tropics. . Karela (Bitter Gourd), Non-healing wound and Traditional Healing: Forwarding two recent write-ups on Traditional Healing.
Oudhia, Pankaj. Excerpts from Field Diaries of Biodiversity Expert-7:Karela (Bitter Gourd), Non-healing wound and Traditional Healing [Internet]. Version 2. Knol. 2011 Mar 18. Available from:
http://knol.google.com/k/excerpts-from-field-diaries-of… . Oudhia, Pankaj. Excerpts from Field Diaries of Biodiversity Expert-8:Divine Herb Pueraria, Airi Kand and Traditional Healing [Internet]. Version 2. Knol. 2011 Mar 18. Available from: http://knol.google.com/excerpts-from-field-diaries-of…      Plant for ID 16/09/2011 SMP2: A cucurbitaceae member for ID It was interesting to note bracts(?) on a long pedicel Date/Time- 15/09/2011 Location- Place, Altitude, GPS- Pune City Habitat- Garden/ Urban/ Wild/ Type- Wild Plant Habit- Tree/ Shrub/ Climber/ Herb- Climber. Height/Length- Leaves Type/ Shape/ Size- Palmately lobed Alternate. Tendrils present. Inflorescence Type/ Size- Axillary solitary Flowers Size/ Colour/ Calyx/ Bracts- 3 sm Yellow Bract like leaf present on the long pedicel Fruits Type/ Shape/ Size Seeds- Not observed I think this is Momordica charantia. Kindly see the attached paper for confirmation. Thanks for the link of the paper.
The key given considers the typeof bract which is important…. It does lead to the said ID of Momordica charantia “Karla” कार्ला the bitter vegetable. The male flowers of Momordica charantia of Cucurbitaceae family.You
mention it as wild. Was it close to the habitation? If so, I feel that this could be a garden escape. Yes … You are right. I mentioned it wild because it was growing in an open area in the city itself so nobody must have planted it. It must have sprouted from the seeds of thrown garbage which is not uncommon with many cucurbitaceae members.
Jan 28, 2012 … cultivated on Prabal Machi near Panvel, Maharashtra
commonly known as: balsam pear, bitter gourd • Assamese: কেৰেলা karela • Bengali: করলা karala • Gujarati: કારેલું karelu • Hindi: करेला karela, कठिल्ल kathilla, परारु poraru • Kannada: ಹಾಗಲಕಾಯಿ haagalakaayi • Kashmiri: करेल् karel • Konkani: काराते kaaraate • Lushai: chang-kha • Malayalam: കയ്പ്പ kayppa, പാവയ്ക്ക pavaykka • Manipuri: কারোন অখাবী karon akhabi • Marathi: आंबलें ambalem, कारली karali, कारेती kareti • Mizo: changkha • Nepalese: अमला amala, करेलो karelo • Oriya: changkha • Punjabi: ਕਰੇਲਾ karela • Sanskrit: कारवेल्लकः kaarvellakah, कटिल्लः kathillah, परारु paraaru, सुषवी sushavi, ऊर्ध्वासितः urdhvaasitah • Sindhi: ڪَريلو karelo • Tamil: இராசவள்ளி iraca-valli, பாகற்காய் pagakkai • Telugu: కాకర kakara • Tibetan: su sa ba • Tulu: ಕಂಚಲ kanchala • Urdu: کريلا karela Native to: tropics of Africa and Asia; naturalized and cultivated elsewhere References: Flowers of India • Wikipedia • NPGS / GRIN • ENVIS – FRLHT • DDSA more views: Jan 28, 2012 … cultivated on Prabal Machi near Panvel, Maharashtra Sep 25, 2010 … at base village of Sarasgad fort, Maharashtra
In ancient Sanskrit Literature कठिल्ल is for करेली not करेला | करेला is कठिल्लक in Sanskrit. Will be good to know what are करेली (kareli) AND करेला (karela) in English and Botany. In Traditional Healing of Chhattisgarh it is wild Karela, more effective than cultivated Karela specially in Treatment of Diabetes Type II. what is pandipavel may be in Konkan language? From Google search These names pavel OR pandi-pavel must be in Malabari OR Malayalam. … to chha gaye ek dum :P…. you can check this useful paper whenever you get time. Charantia is pre linnaeus name. Sorry but I couldn’t find any reference of this from pre-linnean era !! चरन्ती, करन्ती, चरैन्ती – I am trying my Sanskrit name Database just as wild guess. Also written to my African friends to search this word in their ancient dialects. It is also based on wild guess. Interesting!!! in my mother tongue (Konkani), we call it by name कारंतॅ karante (kA-run-tay) or कारतॅ karate (kA-ruh-tay) OR काराते kaaraate (kA-rAh-tay) Yes sir because it was originally described before Linne from Malabar by Van Rheede. By the way, this also means how the pronunciation of the species name should be. Not charantia but karantia 🙂 Well said. Latin doesnt have CH as in Chacha and G as in Jeeta instead it is pronounced as K as in Kaka and G as in Gadha :P. Vaah kya baat hai. Maja aa gaya. Thanks. Back to
कठिल्लक or कठिल्ल … It seems that both Sanskrit words tell about some properties because these plants are also known as कठिल्लक or कठिल्ल
रक्त पुनर्नवा , गदहपूरना, सांठ and तुलसी
From other source
कारवेल्ल, कारवल्ली are Sanskrit names for Karela.
कारवेल्ली is name forकरेली Momordica charantia is mentioned as Momordica karantia in few websites in internet. google search And interestingly my missing keyboard alphabet j gets pronounced as i in Latin (Budleja and Budleia) and c always pronounced as s. By the way if Karela and kareli are two different plants, it would be interesting to know their names. My useful Plants of India (CSIR) lists both under Momordica charantia. Our Group had a long discussion on plant uploaded by a member as Sweet Karela (a name commonly belonging to Momordica dioica) from NE India (Frequently sold in Dareeling, Sikkim, Nepal as Chuchchey Karela), which was finally identified as Cyclanthera pedata. Interestingly I found this plant grown and sold in California, also found it being sold in Manali (also as karela).
For many years in Kashmir I had known about a small karela being grown in villages. Last year I saw it in Kashmir also, being called as kareli (or chhota karela) by the owner of house. This plant was again Cyclanthera pedata.
The name Sechium edule often gets mentioned when talking about Karela, sold as Chayote squash in California, and sometimes simply squash in NE India. I will upload both soon.      Cucurbitaceae week: Momordica sp. from Hooghly: Found this species on roadside this (04-04-12) morning. I think it is Momordica charantia Descurt, Somehow a seed or two fell on the roadside and germinated under favourable conditions! Species : Momordica sp. (likely to be Momordica charantia Descurt.)
Date : 04-04-2012, 10.20 a.m.
Yes …, Momordica chrantia, quite popular bitter vegetable, relished in various ways.
. Cucurbitaceae week: Momordica charantia_RKC02_050421012:
Momordica charantia Cucurbitaceae
Loc.: Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh (ca 550 m)
Date:April, 2007
     Cucurbitaceae Week :: Momordica charantia enroute Prabalgad: This is one of my favorite. Bot. name: Momordica charantia
Common names: Bitter gourd, karela
Commonly cultivated vine with longer fruits reaching 25 cm in length, oblong-fusiform in shape, tubercled surface and red pulp when ripe.
Photographed from Delhi
efloraofindia:”For Id 22102011MR2’’ Climber with yellow flower Pune: Request for identification
I could capture only this much as was high up. could not get the top surface view of the leaves
Date/Time- Oct 2011
Location-Place, Altitude, GPS- Pune
Habitat- Garden/ Urban/ Wild/ Type- wild/garden I do not know it was growing along a compound wall of a society
Plant Habit-Tree/ Shrub/ Climber/ Herb- Climber I may be wrong
Leaves Type/ Shape/ Size- green
Flowers Size/ Colour/ Calyx/ Bracts- yellow flower
Fruits Type/ Shape/ Size Seeds not seen
SYMBIOSIS :99:
Here goes the 99th member os the series. In this image a Psyche butterfly is on the flower of BITTER GOURD. This plant is scientifically known as Momordica charantia. This is the famous vegetable KARELA.           Flora of Hayana: 31102013 BS4 Cucurbitaceae member for id from Sirsa : Attachments (10). 5 posts by 2 authors.
Cucurbitaceae member for id from Sirsa
shot from a Roadside area Any fruits? Sir they were very small at that time. Just at initial stage attaching a pic A large bract near the middle or below in male flower suggests Momordica charantia. Looks like it is the wild form var. muricata.        ARJUL27 Cucurbitaceae for ID : 7 posts by 4 authors. Attachments (7).
Bangalore Momordica sp. Momordica– species in India & eFloraofindia with details & some keys I think it’s Momordica charantia Yes, Sir, I agree. Sir this is Momordica charantia. To me it is Momordica charantia.
Was told it was a wild variety.
With much smaller fruit, approx 2 inches long.
Tender fruits, very tasty.
This is very close to … post from Morni Hills.
For correct id please. Nice Pics … Regarding Momordica I observed some interesting things this year. I grow Karela 3-4 times in my kitchen garden this year from the seeds of many reputed seed companies, but every time i could get very very small fruits from all vines of karela. Still one is growing in my house. Also I have sown seeds for fourth time to see what will happen this time. This phenomenon was also reported by few other friends. Mystery is still not resolved. Perhaps the plants of fourth time seeds may give any clue. Will share pics of those soon Thanks for the information. I had tried to grow them once, in my balcony. I got the usual longer fruits.
Good luck this time with the fruits.
SYMBIOSIS : 694 : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (1)
Attaching an image of a Common Grass Yellow butterfly on the flower of Momordica charantia (KARELA)
SYMBIOSIS : 695 : 1 post by 1 author. Attachments (1).
Attaching an image of a female Chocolate Albatross butterfly on the flower of Momordica charantia (KARELA).   Momordica charantia-White Colored : Cucurbitaceae : For Validation : California : 19FEB15 : AK-22 : 6 posts by 3 authors. Attachments (2)
Seen at the Farmer’s Market in Fremont during Sept,14. For validation. Yes, as per following links one of which is a Govt. site –
Sources say they are hybrids. The question is who is the other parent? Answer perhaps is not available right now, for seed companies won’t disclose this rather recent variety. I agree with the ID Interspecific hybridization perhaps not successful. Intergeneric hybridization successful – Book link Lots of varieties are there –
SK453 26 MAR-2017:ID : 5 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (2)
Location: Gurgaon, India
Date: 9 September 2013
Altitude: 750 ft.
Which Cucurbitaceae …???
It was shot on the pavement on the street.
I think Luffa…..? Pl. Check luffa images in efi. May be Momordica charantia L. (as per images herein) as per comparative images at Momordica Thank you all for ID !
Re: Momordica species from Kurnool : 3 posts by 2 authors. 1 image.
This member of cucurbitaceae (May be a Momordica species) is found on road side in Kurnool district Andhra Pradesh.
Kindly identify
Pl. check Leaves are not clear. May be Momordica charantia L.
Flora of Haryana- Momordica charantia – efloraofindia | Google Groups         Momordica charantia L. : 3 posts by 2 authors. Attachments (8)- around 700 kb each.
Location: Gyaneswor, Kathmandu . Goa, August 2021 :: Momordica charantia for validation :: ARK2021-120: 4 images. Yes. One of the varieties. Yes ! . Have a look please Sir.: 1 very high res. image. Momordica ?? Yes, Appears to be Karela. Yes Sir it karela but it is wild and 3- 4 cm long. Must have escaped cultivation. I guessed so, … Tried all options. . Momordica charantia L.: 9 very high res. images. Location: Kurintar, Nepal
Date: 06 May 2024
Altitude: 350m.
Habitat : Wild
References:
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