• Family : CUCURBITACEAE
  (Gourd Or Melon Family)
• Family (Hindi name) : KHARBOOZA FAMILY (खरबूजा फैमिली)
• Family (as per The APG System III) : CUCURBITACEAE
• Species Name (as per The Plant List) : Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad.
• Common name : Colocynth, Indian Wild Gourd, Citron, Bitter apple, Vine of Sodom
• Vernacular name : Indrayan (Hindi); Havumekkekayi gida (Kannada); Pei kumatti, Varikumati (Tamil); Papara (Telugu); Indiravaruni, Chitraphala (Sanskrit); Pekumatti, Kattuvellari (Malayalam)
• Habit : Climber
• Habitat : Dry deciduous forests
• Comments / notes : Often in plains along river banks and in wastelands
• Flower, Fruit : May-October
• Distribution :
  • Andhra Pradesh : Kurnool district, Guntur district, Kadapa district, Chittoor district, Anantapur district, West Godavari district, Srikakulam district
  • Kerala : Idukki district
  • Odisha : Sundergarh district
  • Tamil Nadu : Tiruvannamalai district, Dharmapuri district, Villipuram district
• World Distribution : Tropics & Sub-tropics of the North Africa, Asia; Semi-arid regions of Atlantic Islands, Afganistan, Pakistan
• Conservation Status : Not Evaluated (NE)
• Literature : Pullaiah et al., 2007 - Flora of Eastern Ghats Vol. 3; R. S. Rao et al., 1986 - Flora of West Godavari District; R. S. Rao and S. H. Sreeramulu, 1986 - Flora of Srikakulam District; Matthew, K.M., Flora of Tamil Nadu Carnatic, Vol.3 (1). Diocesan Press, Madras. 1983; Sasidharan, N. 2011. Flowering plants of Kerala. DVD, V 2, KFRI.
• Citation : Sankara Rao, K., Raja K Swamy, Deepak Kumar, Arun Singh R. and K. Gopalakrishna Bhat (2019). Flora of Peninsular India. http://peninsula.ces.iisc.ac.in/plants.php?name=Citrullus colocynthis. Downloaded on 3 April 2025.

Botanical Description

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