Balsam Apple is an annual, climbing vine in the cucumber family, native to tropical Africa and tropical Asia. This plant is typically 4 to 6 inches high, but the vine can spread to 16 to 20 feet long, using tendrils to climb. It has a thin, hairy stem and heart-shaped leaves. The pale yellow flowers give way to bright orange fruit that contain numerous red, sticky seeds. Balsam Apple prefers a light, moist soil in full sun to partial shade. You can sow seeds directly outdoors in spring a half inch deep in soil or start seedlings indoors. The leaves and young fruits of Momordica balsamina are cooked and eaten as a vegetable in Cameroon, Sudan and southern Africa. The bitter young fruits have been reported widely as edible, whereas the ripe fruits cause vomiting and diarrhoea, and can be poisonous. The bright red fruit pulp is eaten in Namibia. Dogs can be harmed if they eat the ripe fruit. Diseases, Insect Pests, and Other Plant Problems: No known diseases or insect pests.
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Loam (Silt)
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Alkaline (>8.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist | Occasionally Wet
Mature size
Height: 0 ft. 4 in. - 0 ft. 6 in. | Width: 8 ft. 0 in. - 16 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
6 - Vine (vertical)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Climbing; Creeping; Spreading
Texture
Medium
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Ovate; Spatulate
Leaf margin
Entire; Lobed
Leaf feel
Rough
Leaf size
3-6 inches long
Hairs present
Yes
Leaf detail
Leaves are divided into short petioles and 5 inch, soft, thin leaf blades. The sparsely hairy leaf blade is palmately divided with five to seven lobes with each multiply lobed or remotely sharp-toothed. The leaf margins are often pointed on the lobe tips and the thin tendrils are simple and long.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Solitary
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Individual, small, pale yellow, deeply veined flowers. Male flowers appear on long stalks. Female flowers appear on shorter stalks.
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit color
Gold/Yellow
Fruit type
Berry
Fruit value
Showy
Fruit detail
Round, yellowish-green warty fruits in late summer or early fall turn yellow-orange and split when ripe to reveal numerous seeds covered with a brilliant scarlet, extremely sticky coating.
Stem detail
Stem is thin, angular and slightly hairy.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
Tropical & Southern Africa, South West Arabian Peninsula
Distribution
Invasive in Asia, Australia, Central America. Introduced into Texas, Florida, Peru, and India.
Wildlife value
Attracts birds.
Attracts
Songbirds
Food & Medicine
Harvest time
Fall; Summer
Fruit type
Berry
Edibility
Edible, but bitter fruit
Uses (ethnobotany)
Wide spectrum of medicinal and nutritional values and has been used as a traditional folk medicine in many countries. The fruit and leaves are used as a soap substitute.