2. SYSTEMATIC POSITION
Kingdom Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass Magnoliidae
Order Ranunculales
Family Menispermaceae – Moonseed family
3. The APG II system (2003; unchanged from the APG system of
1998) recognizes this family and places in the order
Ranunculales, in the clade eudicots.
Their trimerous flower structure is similar to the
Lardizabalaceae and Berberidaceae, although they differ from
them in other important characteristics.
The APW (Angiosperm Phylogeny Website) considers that
they form part of the Order Ranunculales, and that they are a
sister group on the branch formed by the Lardizabalaceae and
Berberidaceae families in a reasonably advanced clade of the
order.
4.
5. This family is commonly called as Moonseed family.
contains 68 genera with some 440 species.
6. DESCRIPTION
HABITAT
They are distributed throughout low-lying tropical areas with
some species present in temperate and arid regions.
7. HABIT:
Twining woody climbing plants,
winding anti-clockwise except Stephania.
Rarely upright shrubs or small trees.
More rarely still herbaceous plants
or epiphytes (Stephania cyanantha).
perennial or deciduous, with simple to
uni-serrate hairs.
8. LEAVES:
Alternate spiral leaves, simple, whole, dentate, lobed to
palmatifid (bi to trifoliate in Burasaia), petiolated, without
stipules, sometimes with spines derived from the petioles
(Antizoma).
Domatia present in 5 genera as pits or hair tufts. Various types
of stomata, frequently cyclocytic.
9. STEM :
Rapidly growing stems with trilacunar nodes. Phylloclades are present in
Cocculus balfourii.
10. INFLORESCENCE :
racemiform, paniculate or thyrse with partial
inflorescences in a capituliform cyme or pseudo-umbel,
multifloral, rarely single or paired flowers, axillary or
on sharp branches or cauliflorous trunks, females
frequently less branched.
11. FLOWER :
Dioecious plants, sometimes perfect flowers in Tiliacora acuminata and
Parabaena denudata.
12. Flowers small, regular to zygomorphic (Antizoma, Cyclea,
Cissampelos), cyclic to irregularly spiral,
hypogynous, basically trimers.
Receptacle sometimes with developed gynophore.
Sepals (1-)3-12 or more, usually in (1-)2(-many) whorls of 3,
rarely 6, free to slightly fused, imbricate or valvate, sometimes
less numerous in female flowers.
Petals 0-6, in 2 whorls of 3, rarely of 6, free or fused,
frequently holding the opposite stamen, sometimes less
numerous in female flowers.
13. Androecium of (1-)3-6(-40) stamens free of the perianth, free
or fused together in 2-5, fasciculate or monadelphous, introrse,
dehiscence along longitudinal, oblique or transversal slits.
Female flowers sometimes with staminodes.
Gynoecium apocarpous, superior, of (1-)3-6(-32) carpels,
stigma apical, dry, papilous, ovules 2 per carpel, anatropous,
hemianatropous to campilotropous, uni- or bitegmic,
crassinucellate, the superior epitropous and fertile, the inferior
apotropous and abortive, placentation marginal ventral. Male
flowers sometimes with carpelodes.
14. Fruit compound, each unit in a straight or flattened,
asymmetric drupe, more or less stipitate (rarely only one
developed),
Exocarp membranous, mesocarp pulpy, fleshy or
fibrous, endocarp woody to petrous, rough, tuberous,
echinate or ribbed, often with a recess in the placenta
called a condyle.
Seeds slightly curved or spiral (Limaciopsis,
Spirospermum), with endosperm absent or present.
embryo straight or curved, with two cotyledons flat or
cylindrical, leafy or fleshy.
Chromosomal number: x = 11, 13, 19, 25. 2n can be up
15. It is thought that the cauliflorous species are pollinated by small bees,
beetles or flies although there are no direct observations of this.
Birds disperse the purple or black drupes, for example Sayornis phoebe
(Tyrant flycatcher) eats the fruit of Cocculus. In Tinospora cordifolia a
lapse of 6–8 weeks has been observed between fertilization and the first
zygotic cell division.
16. Phytochemistry
The family contains a wide range of benzylisoquinoline
compounds (alkaloids) and lignans such as furofuran, flavones
and flavonols and some proanthocyanidins.
The most notable are the wide variety of alkaloids derived from
benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline and aporphine, which accumulate as
dimers, as well as the alkaloids derived from morphinan and from
hasubanan and other diverse types of alkaloid such as derivative
of aza-fluoranthene.
17. Sesquiterpenes such as picrotoxin and diterpenes such as
clerodane diterpene are also present, while the triterpenes are
scarce and where present are similar to oleanane.
Ecdysone steroids have also been found.
Some species are cyanogenic.
18. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE
The menispermaceae have been used in traditional
pharmacopeia and drugs have been formulated from these
plants that are of great use in modern medicine.
These drugs are based on alkaloids and include tubocurarine
from curare, a poison used by indigenous South American
tribes on their poison darts, that is obtained from species of
Curarea, Chondrodendron, Sciadotenia and Telitoxicum. A
similar poison was used in Asia (ipos) that was obtained from
species of Anamirta, Tinospora, Coscinium and Cocculus.
19. Tubocurarine and its synthetic derivatives are used to
relax muscles during surgical interventions.
The roots of "kalumba" or "colombo“
(Jateorhiza palmata) are used in
Africa for stomach problems
and against dysentery.
20. Species of Tinospora are used in Asia as antipyretics,
the fruit of Anamirta cocculus is used to poison fish and
birds and the stems of Fibraurea are used to dye fabric
yellow.
