Colocynth
A small watermelon? Or a baby watermelon? Or something like a Bonsai Tree?
No, this has nothing to do with watermelon! 🍉
This is the so-called “Bitter Cucumber” or “Colocynth”.
In Tamil, it is known as “குமுட்டிக்காய் (Kumuttikaay)”. It is very bitter.
In my childhood days, we went to a small mountain called “Thoranamalai” for relaxing and taking a bath (Near Courtallam Falls).
My uncle fooled my brother-in-law by saying, “Kumutti Kaay is the sweetest one; if anyone finds it, eat it”.
My brother-in-law found and tasted a Colocynth and experienced the extremely bitter taste! Ended up with heavy laughter!
It has a lot of medicinal qualities. Sometimes, it is used in wicked activities too (Another name for this in Tamil is பேய்க்குமுட்டி).
People still use it for hair-related problems such as Ringworm.
Ram (Zoho) said, “Oh, I see; I remember my childhood days. While playing cricket on the grounds, we saw these species grow wild on the red soil of Thanjavur. Someone mentioned it was toxic.”
My Reply:
It was not actually… But, eating colocynth is not recommended in my village.
I don’t know why… There are many plants with high medicinal qualities… But, the name given to them is not appropriate…
- Wild Tulsi (Basil Plant) - Peththulasi (Basil of Ghost)
- Nithya Kalyani (Vinca Rosea) - Sudukaattu Malli (Jasmine of Buriel Yard)
- Kumutti Kaay (Colocynth) - Pekkumutti (Colocynth of Ghost)
- Pirandai (Cissus quadrangularis) - Pethakulli Perandai (A Vine on Grave)
But, other countries collect them from us and extract the medicinal chemicals from these wonderful plants and sell them back to us… We with some terrific names for them, get rid of them!!! 🥺