The Daily Bucket is a regular series from the Backyard Science group. Here we talk about Mother Nature in all her glory, especially the parts that live nearby. So let us know (as close as you are comfortable) where you are and what's going on around you. What's the weather like? Seen any interesting plants, bugs or critters? Are there birds at your feeders? Deer, foxes or snakies in your yard? Seen any cool rocks or geological features? Post your observations and notes here. And photos. We like photos. :)
The Balsam Apple is a conspicuous plant that was introduced to Florida from Africa.
The Cucurbitaceae family is very old, with fossil remnants dating back to just before the beginning of the Paleocene period 66 million years ago—right around when the dinosaurs disappeared. Today the family contains around 1,000 species which are distributed in tropical, subtropical, and temperate areas around the world. Many of these are familiar garden plants--the family includes gourds, squash, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, and all of the numerous varieties of melons. Many of these are among the earliest edible plants to be domesticated by humans.
The genus Momordica contains about 60 species, known as "bitter melons" (though they are more closely akin to cucumbers than true melons). These are believed to have first appeared in southern Africa and then spread out to Asia, where they range from Yemen all the way to Indonesia. The plants take the form of vines that grow from a potato-like root, with deeply divided leaves and yellow flowers. They die back each winter and then re-grow in spring. The stems, leaves and fruits give off an unpleasant odor if bruised, giving it the nickname "Stink Vine".
Three species have been domesticated as garden plants. M cochinchinensis is usually referred to as the Chinese Cucumber. The other two species, M balsamina and M charantia, look much alike and share many common names, including Balsam Apple, Balsam Pear, African Cucumber, Bitter Gourd, or Bitter Melon. All of them bear fruits that are spikey and knobby, turn orange as they ripen, and split open when mature to reveal brownish-red seeds.
The Chinese variety is distinguished by its much larger oblong fruit, and it has become a common ingredient in Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian cooking. The balsamina species, native to South Africa, tends to have fruits that are a bit smaller than charantia and which often turn reddish at maturity--both are used in west and south African cuisines. In all these varieties it is the immature green fruits that are used for food: they have a sharply bitter taste. The bright red sugary pulp surrounding the seeds is also attractive to birds and some mammals. As the fruits mature, they get even more bitter, and have toxins that can cause nausea and vomiting. Though cooking destroys some of the toxins, the bitter taste always remains. Modern medicinal studies indicate that some of the chemicals found in Balsam Apples may have uses for treating diabetes. African natives believed the fruit could help treat malaria. The toxins are strong enough to induce miscarriage in pregnant women, and there are reports of barnyard pigs dying after eating the ripe fruits and seeds.
The mashed fruit also has astringent properties that were useful for treating wounds and burns, and by the mid-16th century the plant had made its way to Europe as a medicinal herb (the name “Balsam Apple” comes from its use as a balm). When Spanish, French and English colonists traveled to the New World, they took the Balsam Apple along with them. (Thomas Jefferson is known to have grown the vines at his Monticello plantation in the 1800s.) By the 1900s, Balsam Apples had lost most of their medicinal value, but were being cultivated as ornamental plants in gardens across the southern US and Hawaii.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the plants escaped cultivation and spread out into the surrounding countryside. They were first noticed in Florida in the 1950s and by the 2010s had spread across much of the state south of the panhandle--most of these being M charantia, with a smaller population of M balsamina found in St Lucia County. Today the vine is often seen as a weed in suburban lots or in parks. Florida's ants are fond of the sugary pulp, and I have seen half-eaten fruits near piles of Raccoon poop.
The State of Florida classes Balsam Apple as a Category II invasive, meaning that it is potentially harmful but has not, so far, caused much damage to native habitats, and possession of this plant is still legal. In some places in south Florida, the Chinese version is grown commercially.
Some Balsam Apples recently encountered:
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Balsam Apple Vine on Palmetto
The vine can quickly overgrow everything in sight
Balsam Apple flowers
An “apple”
Splitting open to show the red seeds inside
The seeds
Partly-eaten fruit
And now it is your turn. What’s up in your neck of the woods?
We are always looking for new people to produce Daily Buckets, where we practice "backyard science" by reporting and recording what we have seen in the natural world around us (and no matter where you are--even in the middle of the city--there is nature around you). You don't need any science degrees or training or in-depth experience to be a backyard scientist, and you don't need any expensive camera equipment or photo-editing software to do Daily Buckets. All you need is a pair of eyes and ears, a phone with a camera, and a lot of curiosity and enthusiasm.
