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Botanical Family · Ranunculales

Menispermaceae

Moonseed Family

14 speciesOrder Ranunculales8+ well-known plants

The Menispermaceae family (Moonseed Family) is a botanical family placed in the order Ranunculales. In the SASYA catalogue it spans 14 species across 10 genera. Members range from lianas to climbing shrubs. Well-represented genera include Stephania, Cocculus and Tinospora. Several members are valued in traditional medicine. Familiar examples include Fish Berry, Velvet Leaf Pareira and Broom Creeper.

Browse all 14 species ↓
Representative MENISPERMACEAE specimen
Representative specimen · Menispermaceae
Key pattern

Alternate, often peltate leaves (the stalk attaching inside the blade margin rather than at its edge) on twining woody lianas; tiny unisexual flowers on separate male and female plants ripen into a drupe holding a distinctively curved, moon-shaped seed.

The curved, crescent-shaped seed, visible when the fruit is cut in cross-section, gives the family its name and is one of the most reliable single field marks in the plant kingdom.

Identify the species

Which Menispermaceae species is this?

Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Menispermaceae species.

Click a node to trace its path · pinch or scroll to zoom · drag to pan
Leaf ShapeWhat is the overall shape of the leaf blade?
Cordate
Cordate (heart-shaped)
Lanceolate
Ovate
Ovate (egg-shaped, broad at base)
Peltate (shield-shaped, stalk attaches at center)
Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?
Glabrous
Glabrous (smooth, hairless)
Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?
Glabrous (smooth, hairless)
Hirsute (coarsely hairy)
Pubescent (softly hairy)
Leaf SurfaceWhat does the leaf surface feel or look like?
Glabrous (smooth, hairless)
Hirsute (coarsely hairy)

Typical leaf characters

Characters typical of the family — individual species can vary.

Typical flower & fruit

Typical of the family — flowering plants only; species can vary.

Notable members

Fish Berry, Crow Killer, Levant BerriesAnamirta cocculusVelvet Leaf PareiraCissampelos pareira var. hirsutaBroom Creeper, Ink BerryCocculus hirsutusLaurel-Leaved Snail TreeCocculus laurifoliusFalse Columba, Tree TurmericCoscinium fenestratumPata RootCyclea peltataGlaucescent DiploclisiaDiploclisia glaucescensTapevineStephania japonica

All 14 species in MENISPERMACEAE

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