View source for Citrullus colocynthis

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Citrullus colocynthis
|accepted_authority=(Linnaeus) Schrader
|publications={{Treatment/Publication
|title=Linnaea
|place=12: 414. 1838
|year=1838
}}
|common_names=Colocynth;bitter apple;bitter cucumber;vine of Sodom
|special_status={{Treatment/ID/Special_status
|code=I
|label=Introduced
}}
|basionyms={{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Cucumis colocynthis
|authority=Linnaeus
}}
|synonyms={{Treatment/ID/Synonym
|name=Colocynthis vulgaris
|authority=Schrader
}}
|hierarchy=Cucurbitaceae;Citrullus;Citrullus colocynthis
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Cucurbitaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Citrullus]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>species</small>[[Citrullus colocynthis]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 6
|mention_page=page 41
|treatment_page=page 42
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Vines </b>perennial. <b>Stems</b> trailing, 50–150 cm, pustulate-scabrous to pustulate-hispid and sparsely hirsute with deflexed hairs; roots fleshy to ± woody, tuberous; tendrils usually unbranched, rarely 2-branched. <b>Leaf</b> blades elongate-ovate, 1–6(–11) cm, 3–5(–7)-lobed, lobes pinnately shallowly lobed or sinuate, margins serrate to dentate, surfaces pustulate-scabrous. <b>Flowers</b>: hypanthium campanulate, 4–8 mm; sepals lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, 5 mm; petals obovate-oblong, 6–10 mm. <b>Pepos</b> variegated green and yellow or yellow, green-striped, globose to subglobose, with ± elliptical fissures, 4–7(–10) cm diam.; rind thin, not durable, mesocarp light yellowish orange to pale yellow, dry-spongy, intensely bitter. <b>Seeds</b> dark brown to yellowish orange, ovoid-oblong to ellipsoid, 6 mm. <b>2n</b> = 22.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|phenology=Flowering Jun–Sep.
|habitat=Peanut fields, pond dikes in cotton fields, fallow fields, waste ground
|elevation=0–100 m
|distribution=Calif.;Mass.;Tex.;Africa;introduced also in Europe;Asia;Pacific Islands;Australia.
|discussion=<p><i>Citrullus colocynthis</i> is a traditional food plant in Africa, where it is grown particularly for its edible seeds, which are bitter but nutty-flavored, rich in fat and protein, and eaten whole or used as an oilseed. It has also been a standard cathartic remedy, mostly in combination with other cathartics.</p><!--
--><p>Three main haplotypes within colocynth have been identified via molecular data (F. Dane and P. Lang 2004; Dane and J. Liu 2007; A. Levi and C. E. Thomas 2005).</p><!--
--><p>Colocynth rarely is encountered outside of cultivation. It has been reported as a weed in Texas peanut fields (G. L. Nesom 2011); in Massachusetts, it has been sporadically collected since 1878; in California, it has been collected on a pond dike in an area of cotton fields in Kern County.</p>
|tables=
|references=
}}<!--

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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Citrullus colocynthis
|author=
|authority=(Linnaeus) Schrader
|rank=species
|parent rank=genus
|synonyms=Colocynthis vulgaris
|basionyms=Cucumis colocynthis
|family=Cucurbitaceae
|phenology=Flowering Jun–Sep.
|habitat=Peanut fields, pond dikes in cotton fields, fallow fields, waste ground
|elevation=0–100 m
|distribution=Calif.;Mass.;Tex.;Africa;introduced also in Europe;Asia;Pacific Islands;Australia.
|introduced=true
|reference=None
|publication title=Linnaea
|publication year=1838
|special status=Introduced
|source xml=https://jpend@bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation.git/src/8f726806613d60c220dc4493de13607dd3150896/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V6/V6_67.xml
|genus=Citrullus
|species=Citrullus colocynthis
}}<!--

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