''Cyclea peltata'', also called patha or Indian moon-seed (not to be confused with ''

Tinospora cordifolia ''Tinospora cordifolia'' (common names gurjo, heart-leaved moonseed, guduchi or giloy) is a herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae indigenous to tropical regions of the Indian subcontinent. It has been used in Ayurveda to treat various diso ...

'' or "heart-leaved moonseed", from the same family Menispermaceae), is a

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done fo ...

shrub found across

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, in habitats ranging from Moist Deciduous Forests to Tropical Forests and Plains.

Description

A slender climbing vine that has alternately-arranged heart shaped leaves. Flowers between April-June and then again during November-January, depending on the local climate. Flowers are pale yellow and

dioecious Dioecy (; ; adj. dioecious , ) is a characteristic of a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

. Pollination is mostly through insects. The fruits are white, spherical or oval

drupes In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

Use in Ayurveda, Siddha and Folk medicine

''Cyclea peltata'' is used in Indigenous Indian Medicinal systems as a wound healer, an antidote to poisons, and for various digestive, skin and inflammatory disorders. It is a common component of the traditional Ayurvedic

Polyherbal formulation Polyherbal formulation (PHF) is the use of more than one herb in a medicinal preparation. The concept is found in Ayurvedic and other traditional medicinal systems where multiple herbs in a particular ratio may be used in the treatment of illness. ...

''Shaddharana Choornam,'' along with Plumbago zeylanica,

Holarrhena antidysenterica ''Wrightia antidysenterica'', the coral swirl or tellicherry bark, is a flowering plant in the genus ''Wrightia''. ''Wrightia antidysenterica'' is sometimes confused with the species ''Holarrhena pubescens ''Holarrhena pubescens'' is a species ...

Picrorhiza kurroa ''Picrorhiza kurroa'' is one of the major income generating non-timber forest products found in the Nepalese Himalayas. It is one of the oldest medicinal plants traded from the Karnali zone. Known as kutki or कुटकी in Nepali, it is a pe ...

Aconitum heterophyllum ''Aconitum heterophyllum'', also called Atish/Atis/Patis/Ativish/Atvika, is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''Aconitum''. It is used in Indian systems of traditional medicine including Ayurveda. Available in the slopes in sub alpine an ...

Terminalia chebula ''Terminalia chebula'', commonly known as black- or chebulic myrobalan, is a species of ''Terminalia'', native to South Asia from India and Nepal east to southwest China (Yunnan), and south to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Vietnam.Flora of China''Term ...

Berberis aristata ''Berberis aristata'', also known as Indian barberry, "chutro" or "sumbal" or tree turmeric , is a shrub belonging to the family Berberidaceae and the genus ''Berberis''. The genus comprises approximately 450-500 species of deciduous evergreen ...

and Cyperus rotundus, whose formulation is mentioned in Vagbhata's

Ashtāṅgasaṅgraha The Aṣṭāṅgasaṅgraha is a Sanskrit text thought to be authored by the ancient Indian scholar Vagbhata. As a part of the Brhat Trayi, it is one of the principal texts of Ayurveda, which is an indigenous medicine system of India. See Also ...

and Charaka's

Charaka Samhita The ''Charaka Samhita'' (, “Compendium of ''Charaka''”) is a Sanskrit text on Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine). Along with the ''Sushruta Samhita'', it is one of the two foundational texts of this field that have survived from ancien ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13113175 peltata Flora of India (region) Flora of Sri Lanka