''Cissus verticillata'', the princess vine or seasonvine, is an evergreen perennial vine in the grapevine family

Vitaceae The Vitaceae are a family of flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species, including common plants such as grapevines (''Vitis'' spp.) and Virginia creeper (''Parthenocissus quinquefolia''). The family name is derived from the ge ...

Taxonomy

A large number of names have been synonymized to this species; currently 72 synonyms are recognized.

Folk medicine

Historical

folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...

recommendations include "weakness of the stomach", fevers and antiepileptic action. The root bark was also chewed "to strengthen teeth".

History and naming

''Cissus verticillata'' (= ''C. sicyoides'') was discovered in 1571 in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(probably in what is today the state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...

) and first described in 1574 by

Nicolás Monardes Nicolás Bautista Monardes (1493 – 10 October 1588) was a Spanish physician and botanist. Monardes published several books of varying importance. In ''Diálogo llamado pharmacodilosis'' (1536), he examines humanism and suggests studying s ...

who named in Spanish ''Carlo Sancto''. In Europe the plant was compared to

hop A hop is a type of jump. Hop or hops may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hop'' (film), a 2011 film * Hop! Channel, an Israeli TV channel * ''House of Payne'', or ''HOP'', an American sitcom * Lindy Hop, a swing dance of the 1920s and ...

(''Humulus lupulus'' L.) so it was named by

Caspar Bauhin Gaspard Bauhin or Caspar Bauhin ( la, Casparus Bauhinus; 17 January 1560 – 5 December 1624), was a Swiss botanist whose ''Pinax theatri botanici'' (1623) described thousands of plants and classified them in a manner that draws comparisons to t ...

''Lupulus Mechiocanus'' (which means "hop of Michoacán"). The roots of ''Cissus verticillata'' were exported to Europe as a medicinal stock. The last certain reports that this medicinal stock was present in European market originate from the decline of the 18th century

References

verticillata Vines Flora of Florida Flora of Mexico Flora of South America Medicinal plants {{Vitaceae-stub