Coloquinthe

The coloquinte, also known as Citrullus colocynthis or coloquinte pumpkin, is a poisonous plant from the pumpkinfamily (Cucurbitaceae). The colocynthis was voted medicinal plant of the year 2012. Its natural distribution area is in North Africa and Southwest Asia. However, it is wild and naturalized in tropical and subtropical areas such as Australia, Southern Europe, India and Central Africa. Here they grow mainly on riverbanks, floodplains, roadsides, etc. The coloquinte grows up to 1200 meters above sea level.

The Koloquinte is a persistent and herbaceous plant with tubers. It grows low or climbing, and has a height of 10 cm and can reach a diameter of 2 m. Its leaves are stalked and 3 to 9 cm long and equally wide. They are hand-shaped and have a heart-shaped leaf base.
The flowers of the coloquinthe are single; they are yellow in colour. The ovary contains 20 to 50 ovules. Flowering time is between May and September in the Mediterranean area. The fruit of the plant is a fleshy, green, white or yellow berry of 2.5 to 7.0 (rarely longer) cm in length. The coloquinthe was elected medicinal plant of the year in Germany in 2012.

Citrullus colocynthis is the parent plant of Colocynthidis fructus