Tinospora crispa (L.) Hook. f. & Thomson, Menispermaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Menispermum crispum L.; Tinospora rumphii Boerl.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: bo ye qing niu dan

French: liane-quinine

Thai: bora phet, chung ching

Habit:  vine

Description:  "Deciduous vines, glabrous, often producing very long aerial roots. Old stems fleshy, with very prominent blunt tubercles. Younger stems slightly fleshy, epidermis thin, membranous, brownish, glabrous; lenticels large and prominently raised. Petiole 5-15 (-30) cm, glabrous; leaf blade broadly ovate to orbicular, 6-13 x 6-13 cm, slightly fleshy, very thinly papery when dried, both surfaces glabrous, base deeply to shallowly cordate, lobes rounded, margin entire, apex acuminate, palmately 5 (-7)-veined, abaxial basal vein axils with shallow glabrous pockets. Inflorescences racemose, unbranched or occasionally shortly branched, appearing before leaves, flowers 2- or 3-fascicled. Male inflorescences very slender, 5-10 cm or longer. Male flowers: sepals 6 in 2 whorls, green, glabrous, outer 3 ovate, ca. 1 mm, inner 3 obovate, 2.5-3 mm; petals 3-6, yellow, obovate-spatulate, 1.6-2.5 mm; stamens 6, as long as petals. Female inflorescences 2-6 cm, flowers mostly 1 per node. Female flowers: sepals and petals as in male; staminodes 6, to 1 mm; carpels 3, ca. 2 mm, stigma lobes very short. Fruiting peduncle 15-20 mm; carpophores 2-3 mm. Drupes orange, subglobose, to 2 cm when fresh; endocarp semiovoid, 11-13 x 7-9 mm, with conspicuous ridge abaxially, surface finely rugulose to almost smooth, adaxial aperture elliptic, small"  (Flora of China online).

Habitat/ecology:  In China (native), "open forest or shrublands"  (Flora of China online).

Propagation:  Seed and vegetatively.  "Female plants have rarely been collected, suggesting that it has largely been distributed by the vegetative propagation of male plants for medicinal purposes"  (Flora of China online).

Native range:  "Southeast Asia to central Malesia and the Philippines"  (Flora of Australia online).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced invasive	Moore, Aubrey (2012)
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Cambodia Cambodia	Cambodia (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2013) S Yunnan (Xishuangbanna)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Singapore Singapore	Singapore (Republic of)	native	Chong, Kwek Yan/Tan, Hugh T. W./Corlett, Richard T. (2009) (p. 87)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)
Vietnam Vietnam	Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2013)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	possibly native	Swarbrick, J. T. (1997) (p. 129) Marginal rainforest
Australia (Indian Ocean offshore islands) Christmas Island Group	Christmas Island	probably introduced invasive	Australian Biological Resources Study (2013) "ng on trees and over rocks on the shore-terraces. Probably introduced by immigrant workers".

Control:  If you know of control methods for Tinospora crispa, please let us know.