Cucumis maderaspatanus

COMMON NAME:          Madras pea pumpkin and Rough bryony

BOTANICAL NAME:      Cucumis maderaspatanus 

FAMILY:                               Cucurbitaceae (Pumpkin family)

DESCRIPTION:-A slender vine with both the upper and lower leaf blade surfaces clothed in curved hairs, each hair with a swollen base. Similar hairs are also present on the petioles and twigs. Tendrils are tightly coiled. Male and Female Flowers are distinct and yellow in color. Fruits are globose sparsely clothed in white hairs. Pea-sized fruits are green, turning to orange and then red, as they mature. Flowering time: April-October.

USES-

• Grazing animals eat the leaves, but the fruit is believed to be deadly poisonous to cattle. In India cattle are said to like the plant but that the fruits destroy their eyes.

• A decoction of young shoots and leaves is used as an aperient, especially for children, and is also taken to treat vertigo and biliousness.

• The sap is given to small children in the treatment of amoebiasis.

• The leaf-sap is used as a wound-dressing. A poultice of the leaves is used in the treatment of burns and dried, powdered leaves are dusted over scabies.

• The ash of the plant is mixed in castor oil and rubbed over scarifications and the temples to relieve for headache the seeds are diaphoretic and chewed to cause perspiration.

• The fruits are used as a vermifuge.

• The root is chewed to relieve facial neuralgia, toothache, etc.

• A decoction is used in the treatment of flatulence.