Tinospora cordifolia
species of plant
Tinospora cordifolia, guruchi, guduchi, amrita, or the heart-leaved moonseed, is a herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae native to South and Southeast Asia. It has been used in Ayurveda in an attempt to treat various disorders.
There is no good evidence Tinospora cordifolia is of benefit as a medicine and its use can lead to potentially fatal herb-induced liver injury.
Botanical description
It is a large, deciduous, extensively-spreading, climbing vine with several elongated twining branches. Leaves are simple, alternate, and exstipulate with long petioles up to 15 cm (6 in) long which are roundish and pulvinate, both at the base and apex with the basal one longer and twisted partially and half way around. It gets its name heart-leaved moonseed by its heart-shaped leaves and its reddish fruit. Lamina are broadly ovate or ovate cordate, 10–20 cm (4–8 in) long or 8–15 cm (3–6 in) broad, seven nerved and deeply cordate at base, membranous, pubescent above, whitish tomentose with a prominent reticulum beneath.
Flowers are unisexual, small on separate plants and appearing when the plant is leafless, greenish-yellow on axillary and terminal racemes. Male flowers are clustered, but female flowers are usually solitary. It has six sepals in two series of three each.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Tinospora cordifolia” as species of plant. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as species of plant. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3595912. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Tinospora cordifolia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.