''Adenia cissampeloides'' is a species of flowering plant in the

passionflower ''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family (biology), family Passifloraceae. They are mostly tendril, tendril-bearing vines, with some b ...

family,

Passifloraceae The Passifloraceae are a family of flowering plants, containing about 750 species classified in around 27 genera. They include tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches a ...

. It is native to tropical

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Description

''Adenia cissampeloides'' is a woody vine that can reach up to in length. The stems are pale green to gray green and can be spotted. The leaves have smooth edges and are

punctate Punctum, plural puncta, adjective punctate, is an anatomical term for a sharp point or tip. It may also refer to: Medical *Lacrimal punctum, a minute opening on the margins of the eyelids that collect tears produced by the lacrimal glands *Blin ...

(marked with dots), with a

cordate Cordate is an adjective meaning ' heart-shaped' and is most typically used for: * Cordate (leaf shape), in plants * Cordate axe, a prehistoric stone tool See also * Chordate A chordate () is an animal of the phylum Chordata (). All chord ...

(heart-shaped) to

truncate In mathematics and computer science, truncation is limiting the number of digits right of the decimal point. Truncation and floor function Truncation of positive real numbers can be done using the floor function. Given a number x \in \mathbb ...

(square) base. ''A. cissampeloides'' is

monecious Plant reproductive morphology is the study of the physical form and structure (the morphology) of those parts of plants directly or indirectly concerned with sexual reproduction. Among all living organisms, flowers, which are the reproductive st ...

: it has unisexual flowers that occur in

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed ...

s. Male flowers have free or connate (fused together) filaments. Fruits are capsules with one to three fruits occurring per inflorescence.

Taxonomy

It was first described in 1849 as ''Modecca cissampeloides''. In 1897, it was moved to the genus ''

Adenia ''Adenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the passionflower family, Passifloraceae. It is distributed in the Old World tropics and subtropics.

''.

Distribution and habitat

''Adenia cissampeloides'' is currently found naturally in rainforests, swamps, and savannas in

Uses

It has several different human uses from medicine to consumption. Along with several other plants, it is used in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

in traditional medicines as a treatment for

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or deat ...

. The leaves can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15606489 cissampeloides Flora of Guinea-Bissau