Known as:  Alligator Pear, Balsam Pear, Bitter Gourd, Bitter Melon
Latin Name:  Cucurbitaceae Momordica charantia L.
Description: An annual running vine that produces a cucumber-like fruit that is pale white to orange-yellow with pronounced bumps or flat, blunt warts. The slender, smooth vine is 10 feet long or more, with near round, lobed leaves. The orange-yellow fruit is 4 to 8 inches long, oblong, pointed and furrowed lengthwise. When fully ripe it splits into 3 divisions revealing a scarlet aril surrounding numerous seeds. When in flower, it has solitary yellow flowers about 1.5 inches long in the leaf axil.  Leaves alternate on the vine and and may be foul-smelling.
Poisonous Part:  Outer rind of fruit, seeds, ripe fruit.  Involved toxalbumins.
Symptoms: May produce vomiting, abdominal pain, and in some cases diarrhea.
Treatment: Contact your veterinarian.