Cardiospermum halicacabum

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Photographs by: Dr. Maulik Gadani

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  • Botanical Name : Cardiospermum halicacabum L.
  • Common Name : Karodiyo, Kagdodiyo, Balloon Vine, Heart-Seed
  • Plant Family : Sapindaceae
  • Plant Form : Herb
  • Occurrence (Sectors) : 30
  • Occurrence (Special Areas) : Gujarat Forestry Research Foundation, Indroda Park, Ayurvedic Udyan

About Cardiospermum halicacabum Plant :

  • Habit : Annual and perennial, slender and beautifully delicate climber- with flower-peduncle tendrils.    
  • Leaves : Twice ternate, segments lanceolate, serrate, acute.
  • Inflorescence : Umbellate cyme.
  • Flowers :
    • White in few flowered umbellate cyme, peduncles slender, stiff, axillary provided beneath the cyme with 2, opposite, circinate tendrils.
    • Sepals 4, imbricate, outer smaller, inner larger.
    • Petals 4, rounded at apex.
    • Stamens 8, excentric, filaments unequal.
    • Ovary 3-celled, style very short, trifid.
  • Fruit : Capsule membranous, trigonous, 3-celled, stalked truncate at top, winged at angles, bladdery, veined.
  • Seeds : Rounded, smooth, black, with a small, white, heart-shaped aril.
  • Flowering and Fruiting Time : September-December
  • Significance :
    • Common hedge plant and in gardens everywhere.
    • The leaves, roots and seeds used in medicine, for lung diseases, rheumatism and stiffness of the limbs.
    • It cures earache and eyesore.