Momordica charantia Linnaeus (1753: 1009)

Umoh, Omodot Timothy & Bassey, Margaret Emmanuel, 2021, Morphology and distribution of species of the family Cucurbitaceae in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, Phytotaxa 508 (2), pp. 107-128 : 121

8. Momordica charantia Linnaeus (1753: 1009) ( Fig. 10 )

Synonyms:— Sicyos fauriei Léveillé (1911: 150) .

Cucumis intermedius Roemer (1846: 80) .

Cucumis argyi Léveillé (1916: 8) .

Local Name: —Ikpan Ekpo (Annang), Ikon Ekpo (Ibibio).

Common Name: —Bitter gourd.

Habitat: —Roadsides, dumpsites, fallow bush.

Description:— Herb, trailing and climbing means of unbranched tendrils; monoecious. Stem herbaceous, climbing, pubescent, angular, 0.1 cm diam.; tendrils unbranched. Leaves simple, alternately arranged, petiolate, acute, undulate, glabrous, palmately lobed with 5 lobes joined towards leaf base, 4–6 × 5–7 cm; petiole herbaceous, cylindrical, glabrous, 2.5 cm long. Inflorescence solitary, pedicellate, pedicel 4–7 cm long, 0.1–0.2 cm diam.; calyx with 5 sepals, green; corolla with 5 petals, yellow, glabrous. Fruit berry with irregular surface, short round, green when unripe, orange to yellow when ripe, 4–6 × 2–4 cm, with many seeds (± 15–25). Seed flat, blackish, surrounded by red aril, 0.8–1.0 × 0.5 cm.

Location in Akwa Ibom:— Obot Akara, Uyo, Ibesikpo Asutan, and Ikot Abasi.

Abundance:— It existed in 40% of the sampling areas and was frequent in all these sampling areas.

Figures

FIGURE 10. Momordica charantia. A. Flowering plant in habitat. B. Morphological features showing (A) Seed. (B) Flower section. (C) Leaf. (D) Fruit. (E) Tendrils.