Tinospora cordifolia

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

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  • Botanical Name : Tinospora cordifolia (Willd.) Miers.
  • Common Name : Gado, Gulbel, Indian Tinospora
  • Plant Family : Menispermaceae
  • Plant Form : Climbers
  • Occurrence (Sectors) : 17
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Indroda Park, Van Chetana Kendra

About Tinospora cordifolia Plant :

  • Habit : An extensive climber with corky, grooved bark with adventitious aerial roots.
  • Leaves : Thin 7-nerved, cordate with a broad sinus, venis reticulate, petiole long.
  • Inflorescence : A raceme, longer than the leaves, axillary, terminal or from the old wood (cauliflorous).
  • Flowers :
    • Yellow, the male fascicled, the female usually solitary.
    • Flowers appear when the plant is without leaves, pedicels slender, bracts lanceolate, the lower sometimes foliaceous.
    • Male flowers with sepals 3, outer small, ovate-oblong, acute, the 3 inner large, thin, sub-orbicular, concave.
    • Petals 6, each loosely embracing a stamen, claw wedge-shaped, limb trilobed and reflexed at the apex, stamens 6, free.
    • Female flowers  petals wedge-shaped, oblong with entire margins.
    • Ovaries 3, stigma forked.
  • Fruit : A drupe, 1-3 convex, flat, red. Seeds thin and concave convex like a watch-glass.
  • Flowering and Fruiting Time : April - May
  • Significance :
    • The stems are used as a decoction for well-known tonic properties.
    • The oil expressed from the seeds is used in the treatment of tuberculosis of the lungs.
    • The dry stems powdered after drying in the shade are used to reduce high blood pressure.