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BALSAM-PEAR, BITTER CUCUMBER, OR PERIA
Mormordica charantia L., family Cucurbitaceae

This is a minor crop that occurs in the Old World tropics, but its fruit is much esteemed by Malayans and Chinese. In some areas, it is considered a weed; in others, it is cultivated.

Plant:

Balsam-pear is a slender, smooth, high-climbing, leafy annual that lives about 3 months. Its fruit is oblong or oval, narrowed toward both ends, 4 to 8 inches long, orange-yellow, and covered with blunt warts. The fruit bursts upon maturity showing its scarlet aril surrounding its numerous seeds.

Inflorescence:

The yellow flowers are solitary in the leaf axil, monoecious, or rarely hermaphrodite. The staminate flowers are 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, the pistillate ones slightly smaller. Flower opening is similar to our cucumber.

Pollination Requirements:

The pollen must be transferred from the staminate to the pistillate flowers. Pollinators In Kuala Lampur, this plant is pollinated by small bees (Sands 1928).

Pollination Recommendations and Practices:

None.

LITERATURE CITED:

SANDS, W. N.
1928. THE BITTER-CUCUMBER OR PERIA. Malayan Agr. Jour. 16(2): 32.

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