Giloy / Malabar Gulbel
Tinospora sinensis
- Habit
- Liana
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat & more
- Flowering
- February-June
How to identify Giloy
Identify Giloy by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a liana habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Smooth climbing stem.
- Confirm leaf shape: Cordate (heart-shaped).
- Confirm leaf surface: Glabrous (smooth, hairless).
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: February-June.
- In India, compare location records such as Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Menispermaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Giloy.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Tinospora sinensis
- Genus
- Tinospora
- Family
- Menispermaceae
- Habit
- Liana
- Habitat
- Evergreen and moist deciduous forests, also in sacred groves in plains
- Habitat type
- Forest
- Distribution
- India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China
- Found in India
- Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, West Bengal
- Flowering & fruiting
- February-June
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf shape
- Cordate (heart-shaped)recorded
- Leaf surface
- Glabrous (smooth, hairless)recorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Giloy itself; the rest are typical of the Menispermaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Zygomorphic (bilaterally symmetrical)
Typical of the Menispermaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- गिलोय giloy, गुलंचा gulancha, gurch
- Nepali
- गुर्जो लहरा Gurjo Laharaa
- Bengali
- পদ্মগুলঞ্চ
- Tamil
- potchindil
- Kannada
- Sudarsana balli
- Malayalam
- Pee-amerdu, Kattu amirthu, കാട്ടമൃത്
- Marathi
- gulvel, vhadli-amrutvel, गुळवेल
About Giloy
Malabar Gulbel (Tinospora sinensis) is a woody climber in the Menispermaceae family. In India it has been recorded in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat and 7 other states. It grows in evergreen and moist deciduous forests, also in sacred groves in plains. Flowering and fruiting run from February to June.
Menispermaceae
Moonseed Family
Giloy belongs to the Menispermaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Menispermaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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