Author: |
Heinrich Adolph Schrader,
1838 |
Family: |
CUCURBITACEAE |
Origin: |
Afghanistan, Algeria, Assam,
Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Chad, Cyprus, Djibouti,
Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Greece, Gulf States, India, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast,
Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon-Syria, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Niger,
Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sicilia, Sinai, Socotra,
Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan,
Western Sahara, Yemen |
Soil: |
Sandy |
Water: |
Minimum - Medium |
Sun: |
Maximum |
Thickness: |
6 Centimetres |
Height: |
2-3 Metres |
Flower: |
Yellow |
Propagate: |
Seeds |
Names: |
Colocynth, Bitter Apple,
Bitter Cucumber, Egusi, Vine of Sodom, Wild Gourd, Camel Melon |
Synonyms: |
Cucumis colocynthis,
L. 1753.
Colocynthis vulgaris, Schrad. 1833.
Citrullus colocynthis subsp. insipidus. Fursa.
Citrullus colocynthis subsp. stenotomus, Fursa.
Citrullus colocynthoides, Pangalo
Citrullus pseudocolocynthis, M.Roem.
Colocynthis officinalis, Schrad.
Cucumis bipinnatifidus, Wight ex Naudin.
Cucumis colocynthoides, Pi.Savi.
Cucurbita colocyntha, Link. |
This
monoecious member of the
Cucurbitaceae
family
was given this name by Heinrich Adolph Schrader in 1838. It is found in pretty
much all over the southern Europe and Northern Africa along with
south-western Asia, as it is/was grown as a crop. It
is preferring a well drained sandy soil, but not that picky, with little
to some water and lots of sun. The caudex can grow to six centimetres in diameter, the entire plant
to two or three centimetres in length. The flowers are yellow.
The genera name from Medieval
Latin citrullus, citrolus, a kind of cucumber, from
(assumed) Old Italian dialect citrulo (Italian cetriolo),
from (assumed) Vulgar Latin citriolum, from Late Latin
citrium, a kind of cucumber, from Latin, citron, from citrus.
The species name from Greek; kolokynthe, the vernacular
name for the cucurbitaceous plant. |