Cocculus
Encyclopedia
Cocculus is a genus of 11 species of woody
vine
s and shrub
s, native to warm temperate
to tropical
regions of North America
, Asia
and Africa
. The common name Moonseed is also used for the closely related genus Menispermum
. The related Indian Berry (Anamirta cocculus
) is known as "Cocculus Indicus" in pharmacology
.
Woody plant
A woody plant is a plant that uses wood as its structural tissue. These are typically perennial plants whose stems and larger roots are reinforced with wood produced adjacent to the vascular tissues. The main stem, larger branches, and roots of these plants are usually covered by a layer of...
vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
s and shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s, native to warm temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
to tropical
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
regions of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. The common name Moonseed is also used for the closely related genus Menispermum
Menispermum
Menispermum is a small genus of deciduous climbing woody vines in the moonseed family . Plants in this genus have small dioecious flowers, and clusters of small grape-like drupes. The name, moonseed , comes from the shape of the seed, which resembles a crescent moon...
. The related Indian Berry (Anamirta cocculus
Anamirta cocculus
Anamirta cocculus is a Southeast Asian and Indian climbing plant. Its fruit, Cocculus indicus, is the source of picrotoxin, a poisonous alkaloid with stimulant properties....
) is known as "Cocculus Indicus" in pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
.
Selected species
- Cocculus carolinusCocculus carolinusCocculus carolinus, otherwise known as Carolina Coralbead, Redberry Moonseed or the Carolina snailseed, is a vine of the genus Cocculus. It is indigenous to several states in the United States along the south to midwest...
(L.) DC. – Red-berried Moonseed or Carolina Moonseed (southeastern United StatesSoutheastern United StatesThe Southeastern United States, colloquially referred to as the Southeast, is the eastern portion of the Southern United States. It is one of the most populous regions in the United States of America....
) - Cocculus diversifolius DC. – Correhuela (southern TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, southern ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
and northern MexicoMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
) - Cocculus hirsutus (L.) DielsLudwig DielsDr. Friedrich Ludwig Emil Diels , was a German botanist.Diels was born in Hamburg, the son of the classical scholar Hermann Alexander Diels. From 1900 to 1902 he traveled together with Ernst Pritzel through South Africa, Java, Australia and New Zealand. Shortly before the first world war he...
(Tropical AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
east to IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and NepalNepalNepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
) - Cocculus laurifoliusCocculus laurifoliusCocculus laurifolius is a medium sized tree of the genus Cocculus. It is native to Japan and China. It commonly grows to the height of 40 to 60 ft, with a spread of 20 to 40 ft. Form is round headed with a medium to fast growth rate and a coarse texture. Leaves are simple, Large with a whorled...
DC. – Laurel-leaved Snail Tree (HimalayasHimalayasThe Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
east to JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
) - Cocculus orbiculatus (L.) DC. – Queen Coralbead (India east to JavaJavaJava is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
) - Cocculus sarmentosus (Lour.João de LoureiroJoão de Loureiro was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, paleontologist, physician and botanist.In 1742 he travelled to Cochinchina, remaining there for 30 years. He became a specialist in Asian flora and on his return published Flora Cochinchinensis .- References :...
) Diels (TaiwanTaiwanTaiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
)
Formerly placed here
- Jateorhiza palmata (Lam.) Miers (as C. palmatus (Lam.) DC.)
- Pericampylus glaucus (Lam.) Merr. (as C. incanus Colebr.)
- Sinomenium acutum (Thunb.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson (as C. diversifolius Miq.)
- Tinospora cordifoliaTinospora cordifoliaTinospora cordifolia, which is known by the common name Guduchi, is an herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae indigenous to the tropical areas of India, Myanmar and Sri Lanka....
(Willd.) Hook.f. & Thomson (as C. cordifolius (Willd.) DC.)