Menispermum is a small genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 climbing woody vines in the moonseed family (Menispermaceae

Menispermaceae

Menispermaceae, the botanical name for a family of flowering plants, has been universally recognized by taxonomists. Tubocurare, a neuromuscular blocker and active ingredient in curare, is derived from plants of this family....

). Plants in this genus have small dioecious

Dioecious

Dioecy is the property of a group of biological organisms that have males and females, but not members that have organs of both sexes at the same time. I.e., those whose individual members can usually produce only one type of gamete; each individual organism is thus distinctly female or male...

 flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s, and clusters of small grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

-like drupe

Drupe

In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...

s. The name, moonseed

Moonseed

Moonseed is a common name of some flowering plants in the family Menispermaceae:*Cocculus*Menispermum*Moonseed is also a 1998 science fiction book by Stephen Baxter....

 , comes from the shape of the seed

Seed

A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...

, which resembles a crescent moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

. The word Menispermum is derived from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 words mene, meaning moon, and sperma meaning seed. The name is also applied to some other species in related genera (Cocculus

Cocculus

Cocculus is a genus of 11 species of woody vines and shrubs, 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 is known as "Cocculus Indicus" in...

).

Species

There are only three species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in the genus Menispermum. They are:

• Menispermum canadense L. – Canadian moonseed (northeastern 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...
  
  )
• Menispermum dauricum DC. – Asian moonseed (northeastern 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...
  
  )
• Menispermum mexicanum – Mexican moonseed (Mexico
  Mexico
  The 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...
  
  )

Formerly placed here

• 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....
  
  (L.) Wight & Arn. (as M. cocculus L.)
• Calycocarpum lyonii (Pursh) A.Gray (as M. lyonii Pursh)
• Cocculus carolinus
  Cocculus carolinus
  Cocculus 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. (as M. carolinum L.)
• Cocculus hirsutus (L.) Diels (as M. hirsutum L.)
• Cocculus orbiculatus (L.) DC. (as M. trilobum Thunb.)
• Jateorhiza palmata (Lam.) Miers (as M. columba Roxb. or M. palmatum Lam.)
• Pericampylus glaucus (Lam.) Merr. (as M. glaucum Lam.)
• Sinomenium acutum (Thunb.) Rehder & E.H.Wilson (as M. acutum Thunb.)
• Tinospora cordifolia
  Tinospora cordifolia
  Tinospora 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 M. cordifolium Willd.)
• Tinospora crispa (L.) Hook. f. & Thomson (as M. crispum L.)

Uses

All parts of these plants are known to be poisonous. Children have been killed from eating the fruits.

Asian Moonseed has been used to treat skin disorders, rheumatism, and cervical cancer. Canadian Moonseed

Canadian Moonseed

Menispermum canadense is a flowering plant in the family Menispermaceae, native to eastern North America, from southern Canada south to northern Florida, and from the Atlantic coast west to Manitoba and Texas...

 has been used in herbal medicine as a tonic, laxative

Laxative

Laxatives are foods, compounds, or drugs taken to induce bowel movements or to loosen the stool, most often taken to treat constipation. Certain stimulant, lubricant, and saline laxatives are used to evacuate the colon for rectal and/or bowel examinations, and may be supplemented by enemas under...

, dermatological

Dermatology

Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its diseases, a unique specialty with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist takes care of diseases, in the widest sense, and some cosmetic problems of the skin, scalp, hair, and nails....

 aid, venereal aid, and diuretic

Diuretic

A diuretic provides a means of forced diuresis which elevates the rate of urination. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics increase the excretion of water from bodies, although each class does so in a distinct way.- Medical uses :...

. Yellow Medicine County in Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 is named after one of this plant's common names.

Plants of this species are sometimes grown as ornamentals in garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

s. Gardeners can propagate this plant from the division of runners or by seed.