Velvetleaf (Cissampelos pareira)
Description
Cissampelos is a genus of flowering plants in the family Menispermaceae. Various species of this genus have a rich history of traditional use in the treatment of asthma, cough, fever, arthritis, obesity, dysentery, snakebite, jaundice and heart problems, blood pressure and skin-related problems. Moreover, many of these plants were traditionally used as curare applied as arrow poison during hunting.Cissampelos pareira is used in Chinese herbology, where it is called x- sh-ng t-ng (---) or (---). The species is also known as abuta and is also called laghu patha in Ayurvedic medicine. An ethanol extract of Cissampelos sympodialis has been shown to have antidepressant-like effects in mice and rats.The Maasai people of Kenya use Cissampelos mucronata as a forage for their cattle, and the roots of it have been used to treat malaria and it has been reported to be used for relief of abdominal and rheumatic pains, as a febrifuge, as diuretic, for prevention of abortions, and against gonorrhea, leprosy, stomach pains, and whooping cough. A Tanzanian study showed that it does, in fact, have some antimalarial properties; the same article says that Cissampelos pareira is used in Madagascar as an antimalarial as well.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Ranunculales
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Family: Menispermaceae
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Genus: Cissampelos
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