木鳖子 mu bie zi

Muricia cochinchinensis Loureiro, Fl. Cochinch. 2: 596. 1790; Momordica macrophylla Gage; M. meloniflora Handel-Mazzetti; M. mixta Roxburgh.

Climbers, strong, to 15 m. Root tuberous. Stem and branches glabrous or puberulent, sometimes tomentose at nodes. Tendrils robust, simple. Petiole robust, 5-10 cm, slightly yellow-brown pubescent or glabrescent, 2-4-glandular at base or middle; leaf blade cordate or broadly ovate-orbicular, 10-20 × 10-20 cm, 3-5-lobed; median lobe obovate or oblong-lanceolate, 6-10(-15) × 3-6(-9) cm, margin undulate-dentate, apex acute or acuminate; lateral lobes ovate or oblong-lanceolate, 3-7(-11) × 2-4(-7) cm, base cordate. Plants dioecious. Male flowers solitary or in a short raceme; pedicels robust, 3-5 cm, or 6-12 cm when solitary, bracteate at apex; bract orbicular-reniform, 3-5 × 5-8 cm, entire, retuse at apex; calyx tube funnelform; segments broadly lanceolate or oblong, 12-20 × 6-8 mm, apex acute or acuminate; corolla yellow; segments ovate-oblong, 5-6 × 2-3 cm, yellow glandular at base, apex acute or acuminate; stamens 3; anther cells reflexed. Female flower solitary; pedicel 5-10 cm, bracteate at middle; bract ca. 2 mm; calyx and corolla as in male flowers; ovary ovoid-oblong, ca. 1 cm, densely spinescent. Fruit red, ovoid, 12-15 cm in diam., fleshy, densely spinescent, apex rostellate. Seeds numerous, ash gray, ovoid or square, 26-28 × 18-20 mm, 5-6 mm thick, both surfaces sculptured, margin undulate-sublobulate. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug-Oct.

Forest margins and roadsides on mountain slopes; 400-1100 m. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar].

The seeds, roots, and leaves are used medicinally.