Chandigarh Forest Flora
A Comprehensive Database of Ligneous Plants of Chandigarh (India)
Designed & Developed by Bioinformatics Centre, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun
| Family: Menispermaceae | Genus: Tinospora | Species:
Tinospora
cordifolia (Willd.) Miers
|
Habit |
Leaf |
Flower |
Fruit |
Bark |
|
|
| Synonym | Chasmanthera cordifolia (DC.) Baill., Cocculus cordifolius (Willd.) DC., Menispermum cordifolium Willd | Flower Color | Greenish |
| Common Name | Gulbel, Indian Tinospora | Flower Type | Cyme |
| English / Trade Name | Tinospora, Indian Tinospora, Heart leaved moonseed, Bile killer, Moon creeper | Flowering Period | Jan-March |
| Vernacular /Local Name | Giloy, Gulbel | Fruiting Period | April-June |
| Altitude | Upto 1400m | Fruit Type | Drupe |
| Habit | Climber | Fruit Details | Drupes sessile; seeds grooved vertically. |
| Habitat | Moist deciduous forests and scrub jungles, also in the plains | Bark Type | Prickly |
| Distribution | Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar | Bark Details | Bark is light grey brown in colour, corky and papery |
| Distribution in chandigarh | Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, Chandigarh Botanical Garden and Nature Park, Sector 6 | Origin | Native |
| Leaf Type | Simple | ||
| Leaf Arrangement | Alternate (leaves born singly along stem) | ||
| Leaf Shape | Ovate | ||
| Description of Species | A large woody succulent climbing shrub. Bark grayish brown, corky, young shoots glabrous, flaking with age, stem striate, scattered with lenticels, branches striate, generally sending down long aerial roots from the host trees, where they spread. Leaves simple, alternate, broadly ovate, cordate or suborbicular, 4-17 × 4.5-14 cm across, base cordate to sinuate, margin entire, apex deeply acuminate or cuspidate, chartaceous, membranous, thin, green, glabrous above, paler glabrous with glandular papillose patches beneath, strong basal veins 5-7, impressed above and prominent beneath, lateral veins 2-3 pairs, veinlets fine and close, petiole twisted, swollen near the base, pulvinate, glabrous, | Leaf Details | Leaves broadly ovate, apex acuminate, base cordate, 5-ribbed; petiole 4-6 cm long. |
