''Cissus verticillata'', the princess vine or seasonvine, is an evergreen perennial vine in the grapevine family

Vitaceae The Vitaceae are a family of flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species, including common plants such as Vitis, grapevines (''Vitis'' spp.) and Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virginia creeper (''Parthenocissus quinquefolia''). Th ...

. It grows primarily in tropical regions near sea level, including many locations in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

region.

Description

The vine – a

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

– is a long-stemmed, woody bush rooted in wet soil of tropical forests, and typically climbing around other plants to form a dense

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

. Extrafloral

nectaries Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists, ...

are present in this species.

Taxonomy

A large number of names have been synonymized to this species; currently 72 synonyms are recognized.

Folk medicine

Historical

folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

recommendations or the use of this plantinclude or“weakness of the stomach", fevers and antiepileptic action. The root bark was also chewed "to strengthen teeth".

History and naming

''Cissus verticillata'' (= ''C. sicyoides'') was discovered in 1571 in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

(probably in what is today the state of

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

) and first described in 1574 by

Nicolás Monardes Nicolás Bautista Monardes (1493 – 10 October 1588) was a Spanish physician and botanist. Monardes published several books of varying importance. In ''Diálogo llamado pharmacodilosis'' (1536), he examines humanism and suggests studying se ...

who named in Spanish ''Carlo Sancto''. In Europe the plant was compared to hop (''Humulus lupulus'' L.) so it was named by

Caspar Bauhin Gaspard Bauhin or Caspar Bauhin (; 17 January 1560 – 5 December 1624), was a Swiss botanist whose ''Pinax theatri botanici'' (1623) described thousands of plants and classified them in a manner that draws comparisons to the later binomial nome ...

''Lupulus Mechiocanus'' (which means "hop of Michoacán"). The roots of ''Cissus verticillata'' were exported to Europe as material for folk medicine near the end of the

18th century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to ch ...

References

verticillata Vines Flora of Florida Flora of Mexico Flora of Southern America Medicinal plants Plants with extrafloral nectaries {{Vitaceae-stub