Balsam Apple

Momordica balsamina

Summary 3

Balsam apple is a climbing vine with twisting, threadlike tendrils that can form dense thickets. Leaves are alternate, petioles 1 to 2.5 in. long. Leaf blades are smooth to hairy, deeply palmate, 5 to 7-lobed, and up to 5 in. wide. Leaf blade lobes are rounded to pointed with toothed margins. Has bright, yellow, funnel-shaped, usually borne singly on a stalk flowers. Flower petals are rounded or indented at the tip and up to 0.5 in. long. Flowers are followed by egg-shaped, up to 4 in. long, golden yellow to bright orange at maturity fruit that are covered with bumps. When ripe, the fruits burst apart, revealing numerous elliptical seeds covered with a bright red pulp. This vine is in the cucumber family and originates from the tropics in Africa. Plant communities where balsam pear have been observed include: scrub, maritime and mesic hammocks, pinelands, beach dune, coastal strand, shell midden, wet flatwoods, floodplain swamp and edges of freshwater swamps. This pioneer species gets shaded out in intact mature hammocks. The fruits and leaves are used medicinally but the seeds are toxic. Sometimes called “stink vine,” the unpleasant smell from handling the plant washes off with water.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Patricia H., some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/rocknroll_guitar/4161226554/
  2. (c) t_kok, all rights reserved
  3. (c) t_kok, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

Range Map

iNat Map

Flowers Yellow
Fruit Red
Leaf type Simple
Leaf arrangement Alternate
Leaf characteristics Aromatic