• Scientific Name: Momordica cochinchinensis (Lour.) Spreng.
• Ref: Syst. Veg. 3:14. 1826
• Synonyms:
  • Momordica macrophylla Gage
  • M. meloniflora Hand.-Mazz.
  • M. mixta Roxb.
  • M. ovata Cogn.
  • M. sphaeroidea Blanco
  • M. suringarii Cogn.
  • Muricia cochinchinensis Lour.
  • Zucca commersoniana Ser.
• English Common Name: gac
• Chinese Common Name: 木鳖子 mùbiē∙zǐ, 木鳖果 mùbiē∙guǒ, 土木鳖 tǔ∙mùbiē
• Japanese Common Name: ナンバンカラスウリ [南蛮烏瓜] nanbankarasūri, ナンバンキカラスウリ [南蛮黄烏瓜] nanbankikarasūri, モクベツシ [木鼈子] mokubetsushi
• Family: Cucurbitaceae
• Genus: Momordica
• Distribution: 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].
• Photo: 06/30/2016
• Note: English common name from Vietnamese gấc.

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. (Flora of China)