Menispermaceae (botanical Latin: 'moonseed family' from Greek mene 'crescent moon' and sperma 'seed') is a family of flowering plants. The alkaloid tubocurarine, a neuromuscular blocker and the active ingredient in the 'tube curare' form of the dart poison curare, is derived from the South American liana Chondrodendron tomentosum, which belongs to this family. Several other South American genera belonging to the family have been used to prepare the 'pot' and 'calabash' forms of curare. The family contains 81 genera with some 440 species, which are distributed throughout low-lying tropical areas with some species present in temperate and arid regions.
Description
Menispermaceae are rapidly growing, twining, ever-growing, and woody climbing plants. Rarely, they are upright shrubs, small trees, herbaceous plants or epiphytes (Stephania cyanantha). They can be perennial or deciduous, and have simple to uni-serrate hairs.
They usually wind anti-clockwise, although Stephania winds clockwise.
The leaves are alternating, or arranged in a spiral. The leaves can be simple, dentate, entire, or lobed. In Syntriandrium, the leaves are bi- or trifoliate. Leaves are frequently peltate, have stems, and lack stipules. The stipules sometimes form spines, as in Antizoma. The leaves are usually bifacial, though they are isofacial in Antizoma. The leaf venation can be almost parallel, or curved.
Arcangelisia and Anamirta have hydathodes derived from trichomes. Domatia are present in five genera as pits or hair tufts. Menispermaceae have various types of stomata, which are frequently cyclocytic. Phylloclades are present in Cocculus balfourii.
The plants are usually unisexual and dioecious. Tiliacora acuminata and Parabaena tend to have bisexual flowers. Inflorescences are sometimes racemiform, may be derived from a thyrse with partial inflorescences, and are sometimes paniculate. The inflorescences have multiple flowers, or rarely single or paired flowers. Flowers may...
