The World of Apples

The apples that aren't

Bitter apple

Citrullus colocynthis, Cucurbitaceae

The bitter apple, or colocynth, is a tendril-bearing vine of dry, sandy country3,4. Kew gives its native range as Macaronesia and the Mediterranean to Myanmar, and north-eastern tropical Africa to northern Kenya2.

Its fruits are yellowish and mottled with green, the size of small lemons3; a review of 2022 gives them as 7 to 10 cm across, yellow, or green with yellow stripes4. Inside is a dry, bitter, spongy pulp, a very strong laxative3, which has been used in traditional medicine for disorders of the gut4.

The name colocynth comes from the Greek kolokunthis, from kolokunthē, a round gourd3. The 2022 review lists bitter apple, bitter gourd and bitter cucumber among its English names, Koloquinthe in German, coloquinte in French and handhal in Arabic4. Wiktionary counts it among the plants called apple of Sodom5.

Sources

  1. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy: Citrullus colocynthis, Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Supports: the accepted name and family.
  2. Plants of the World Online: Citrullus colocynthis, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Supports: the accepted name and the native range, "Macaronesia, Medit. to Myanmar, NE. Trop. Africa to N. Kenya".
  3. colocynth, American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, fifth edition, HarperCollins, 2022. Supports: a tendril-bearing Old World vine with yellowish, green-mottled fruits the size of small lemons; the dried, bitter, spongy pulp a very strong laxative; also called bitter apple; the name from Greek kolokunthis, from kolokunthē, round gourd.
  4. Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad (bitter apple fruit): promising traditional uses, pharmacological effects, aspects, and potential applications, Qin-Yuan Li and others, Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2022. Supports: a desert plant of arid sandy areas; fruits about 7 to 10 cm across, yellow or green with yellow stripes; the dried pulp used for disorders of the gut; its names, bitter apple, bitter gourd and bitter cucumber in English, Koloquinthe, coloquinte and handhal.
  5. apple of Sodom, Wiktionary. Supports: the colocynth as one of the plants called apple of Sodom.