Tinospora crispa
(L.) Hook. f. & Thomson, Fl. Ind. 183. 1855 & Fl. Brit. India 1:
96. 1872. Menispermum crispum L., Sp. Pl. ed. 2. 1488. 1763. T. mastersii Diels in Engler,
Pflanzenr.46: 140.1910.
Asm.: Hoguni-lot.
Shrubs, climbing, up to 15 m , glabrous; stems prominently striate, tuberculate, often bearing aerial roots, with bitter milky sap. Leaves broadly ovate to oblong-orbicular, shortly or deeply cordate at base, acuminate at apex, palmately 5 - 7-nerved at base, thinly papyraceous; domatia absent; petioles 5 - 15 cm long. Inflorescences on old leafless stems, pseudo-racemose, 1 - 3-flowered fascicles, slender, 9 - 25 cm long; flowers yellowish green; bracts subulate, 2 - 3 mm long, fleshy. Male flowers: pedicels 2 - 4 mm. long; sepals pale green; outer 3 subovate, thickened at base, 1 - 1.5 mm long; inner 3 obovate, unguiculate or acute at base, 3 - 4 mm long; petals 3, usually only outer whorl developed; inner 3 petals reduced and minute, rarely up to 1.5 mm long; stamens 6, ca 2 mm long. Female flowers: staminodes 6, subulate, ca 1 mm long; carpels 3, ellipsoid, ca 2 mm long; stigma very shortly lobed. Drupes ellipsoid, ca 2 cm long, orange-coloured; endocarp 11 - 13 x 7 - 9 mm, obscurely rugulose or smooth, with prominent dorsal ridge and small elliptic ventral aperture; condyle deeply intrusive into seed cavity.
Fl. & Fr. Feb. - June.
Distrib. India: Mixed deciduous forests, up to 900 m. West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
China, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaya, Java to Philippines.
Notes. Used for treatment of fevers and jaundice. Stem is cut into small pieces, scraped, then infused in boiling water and after cooling is used as quinine for malaria. The stem powder with fodder is fed to cattle and horses for stimulating appetite.
Shrubs, climbing, up to 15 m , glabrous; stems prominently striate, tuberculate, often bearing aerial roots, with bitter milky sap. Leaves broadly ovate to oblong-orbicular, shortly or deeply cordate at base, acuminate at apex, palmately 5 - 7-nerved at base, thinly papyraceous; domatia absent; petioles 5 - 15 cm long. Inflorescences on old leafless stems, pseudo-racemose, 1 - 3-flowered fascicles, slender, 9 - 25 cm long; flowers yellowish green; bracts subulate, 2 - 3 mm long, fleshy. Male flowers: pedicels 2 - 4 mm. long; sepals pale green; outer 3 subovate, thickened at base, 1 - 1.5 mm long; inner 3 obovate, unguiculate or acute at base, 3 - 4 mm long; petals 3, usually only outer whorl developed; inner 3 petals reduced and minute, rarely up to 1.5 mm long; stamens 6, ca 2 mm long. Female flowers: staminodes 6, subulate, ca 1 mm long; carpels 3, ellipsoid, ca 2 mm long; stigma very shortly lobed. Drupes ellipsoid, ca 2 cm long, orange-coloured; endocarp 11 - 13 x 7 - 9 mm, obscurely rugulose or smooth, with prominent dorsal ridge and small elliptic ventral aperture; condyle deeply intrusive into seed cavity.
Fl. & Fr. Feb. - June.
Distrib. India: Mixed deciduous forests, up to 900 m. West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
China, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaya, Java to Philippines.
Notes. Used for treatment of fevers and jaundice. Stem is cut into small pieces, scraped, then infused in boiling water and after cooling is used as quinine for malaria. The stem powder with fodder is fed to cattle and horses for stimulating appetite.
