Menispermaceae Juss.

Menispermaceae, G. Troupin. Flora Zambesiaca 1:1. 1960

Morphology General Habit

Twining or rarely erect shrubs or small trees, dioecious

Morphology General Wood

Wood in cross-section showing broad medullary rays

Morphology Leaves

Leaves alternate, petiolate, exstipulate, sometimes peltate, without stipules, usually simple, entire or lobed

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescence various, many-flowered, the flowers rarely solitary or geminate, axillary or borne on the leafless wood

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers small, actinomorphic, rarely slightly irregular Female flowers: sepals and petals generally as in male flowers, sometimes not so numerous; staminodes present or absent; carpels 3–6 or more, rarely 1, free; ovules 2, soon reduced to 1 by abortion, attached to the ventral suture Male flowers: sepals 3–12 or more, rarely 1, free or slightly connate, imbricate or valvate; petals 1–6 or absent, free or connate, usually imbricate; stamens 3–6 or indefinite, rarely 2, free or variously united

sex Male

Male flowers: sepals 3–12 or more, rarely 1, free or slightly connate, imbricate or valvate; petals 1–6 or absent, free or connate, usually imbricate; stamens 3–6 or indefinite, rarely 2, free or variously united

sex Female

Female flowers: sepals and petals generally as in male flowers, sometimes not so numerous; staminodes present or absent; carpels 3–6 or more, rarely 1, free; ovules 2, soon reduced to 1 by abortion, attached to the ventral suture

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruiting carpels drupaceous, with the scar of the style subterminal or near the base by excentric growth; exocarp membranous or subcoriaceous, mesocarp more or less pulpy, endocarp often chartaceous or bony, rugose, tuberculate or ribbed and with the septum of the condyle,2 if any, perforated or not

Morphology Reproductive morphology Seeds

Seeds often curved and horseshoe-shaped, with uniform or ruminate endosperm, or without endosperm

Milliken, W. (2009). Neotropical Menispermaceae.

Morphology

Description

Woody (sometimes herbaceous ) vines, occasionally herbs, shrubs or trees.  Leaves alternate , simple (very rarely compound ), usually palmately veined (sometimes pinnately), occasionally palmately lobed , margins usually entire , very rarely denticulate (Synandropus), occasionally peltate , sometimes with indumentum of simple hairs; petioles with basal or apical pulvinae, usually flexuous .  Flowers mostly inconspicuous, often greenish or dull red, unisexual ( dioecious ), borne on axillary or cauliflorous spikes, racemes or panicles, usually actinomorphic (except Cissampelos); perianth usually in multiples of 3, sepals 6-12 and petals 0-6-(12) (though 1 of each in female flowers of Cissampelos and 4 in male); stamens (1)-3-12-(40), filaments sometimes fused into a column, reduced to staminodes or absent in female flowers; anthers dehiscing by longitudinal or (apparently) oblique or horizontal slits; ovary superior , gynoecium apocarpous with (1)-3-6-(30) carpels and 2 ovules per carpel (1 abortive). Fruits fleshy or non- fleshy drupe-like monocarps, sometimes aggregated, often with a bony or woody endocarp , single-seeded; seeds usually curved; endosperm ruminate , not ruminate or absent.

Distribution

Distribution in the Neotropics

• Widely distributed throughout the Neotropics, particularly in the humid lowlands, although some genera (e.g. Cissampelos) also occur in arid areas.

Diagnostic

Distinguishing characters (always present)

• Simplealternate leaves, though one species - Disciphania cujibensis (R. Knuth) Sandwith - palmately compound.
• Monocarpous one-seeded fruits.
• Unisexual flowers.

Other important characters

• Usually vines or lianas with a few exceptions: Abuta grandifolia (Mart.) Sandwith is a tree, and a few species such as Cissampelos ovalifolia DC. are herbaceous.
• Petiole often pulvinate at apex (and/or at base) and generally visibly flexed.
• Leaves commonly more or less sub-peltate (sometimes conspicuously so), sometimes drying blackish.
• Curved seed ('moonseed') often with ruminateendosperm and surrounded by bony, ornamented endocarp.
• Leaf venation usually palmate (though occasionally pinnate).
• Petals and sepals commonly in multiples of three (not Cissampelos).
• Cross-section of woody stems generally made up of concentric (often asymmetrical) rings of vessels with medullary rays.
• Wood often bitter to the taste, sometimes yellow or yellowish.

Key differences from similar families

• In a sterile condition certain Menispermaceae may be confused with Cucurbitaceae (from which they differ in the lack of tendrils) or Dioscoreaceae (which never have apically flexed pulvinae and whose branchlets often have swollen nodes).
• They may also be confused with Aristolochiaceae (which also lack the apically flexed pulvinae and sometimes have leafy stipules), and possibly Sparattanthelium (Hernandiaceae), which differs in its ranalean odour and simplestem structure.
• The leaves of some lianas (e.g. Abuta spp.) may perhaps be confused with those of Loganiaceae (Strychnos), from which they differ in their alternate (rather than opposite) arrangement.

Useful tips for generic identification

[adapted from Gentry (1993)]

 

Habit:

• Herbaceous vines with solitary fruits - Cissampelos (though one species is a woody herb).

 

Fruits:

• Black or purple fleshy drupes - Odontocarya or Disciphania.
• Hard, red/orange/black monocarps - Abuta , Anomospermum and relatives.
• Hard, grey or tan-pubescent monocarps - Chondrodendron , Curarea and relatives [if 6 or more of these per flower - Chondrodendron or Sciadotenia ].

 

Petioles:

•  Pulvinately flexuous at base [sometimes also pulvinate at apex] - Odontocarya , Disciphania , Borismene .

 

Seeds:

• Endosperm not ruminate - Odontocarya , Disciphania , Borismene.
• Endosperm absent - Chondrodendron , Curarea , Cionomene , Sciadotenia , Hyperbaena.
• Endospermruminate - Telitoxicum , Abuta and Caryomene (seed U-shaped); Anomospermum , Orthomene (seed straight or J-shaped).
• Leaf margins: Dentate - Synandropus .

General Description

General notes

• Most species of this family contain powerful alkaloids with biochemical activity.
• Many are used in medicines (e.g. for stomach disorders, malaria). Several are also used in the preparation of arrow and dart poisons, including Curarea, Chondrodendron, Abuta, Telitoxicum. 
• Chondrodendron tomentosum Ruiz & Pav. is the original natural source of the alkaloid tubocurarine, used as a muscle relaxant in surgical procedures.
• Some Menispermaceae (e.g. Abuta grandifolia (Mart.) Sandwith) have edible fruits.

Number of genera

Seventeen genera recorded in the Neotropics, including:

• Abuta Aubl.
• Anomospermum Miers
• Borismene Barneby
• Caryomene Barneby & Krukoff
• Chondrodendron Ruíz & Pavón
• Cionomene Krukoff
• Cissampelos L.
• Curarea Barneby & Krukoff
• Disciphania Eichler
• Elephantomene Barneby & Krukoff
• Hyperbaena Miers ex. Benth.
• Odontocarya Miers.
• Orthomene Barneby & Krukoff
• Sciadotenia Miers.
• Synandropus A.C. Sm.
• Telitoxicum Mold.
• Tinospora Miers. [introduced]
• Ungulipetalum

Notes on delimitation

• A clearly defined family situated within the Ranunculales, characterized by the presence of drupelets, a chondyle and large embryos (Ortiz et al., 2007). Placed by phylogenetic analyses close to the Berberidaceae, Ranunculaceae and Papaveraceae (Barneby & White, 2004).

Status

• Native to the Neotropics.

Literature

Important literature

Barneby, R.C. 1970. Revision of neotropical Menispermaceae tribe Tinosporeae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 20: 81-158.

Barneby, R.C. and Krukoff B.A. 1971. Supplementary notes on American Menispermaceae. VIII. A generic survey of the American Triclisieae and Anomospermeae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 22: 1-89.

Barneby, R. and White, P. 2004. Menispermaceae, pp 247-9. In: Smith, N.A., Mori, S.A., Henderson, A., Stevenson, D.W. and Heald, S.V. (eds.), Flowering plants of the Neotropics. New York Botanical Garden & Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Carlquist, S. 1996. Wood and stem anatomy of Menispermaceae. Aliso 14: 155-170.

Diels, L. 1910. Menispermaceae. In: Engler, A., Das Pflanzenreich IV, 94, 1-345.

Gentry, A.H. 1993. A Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of Northwest South America with Supplementary Notes on Herbaceous Taxa. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Hong, Y.-P. Chen, Z.-D. and Lu, A.-M. 2001. Phylogeny of the tribe Menispermeae (Menispermaceae) reconstructed by ITS sequence data. Acta Phytotax. Sinica 39: 97-104.

Kessler, P.J.A. 1993. Menispermaceae, pp. 402-418. In: Kubitzki, K., Rohwer, J.G. and Bittrich, V. (eds.), The families and genera of vascular plants, vol. 2. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.

Krukoff, B.A. and Barneby, R.C. 1970. Supplementary Notes on American Menispermaceae - VI. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 20: 1-70.

Krukoff, B.A. and Moldenke, H.N. 1938. Studies of American Menispermaceae, with special reference to species used in preparation of arrow-poisons. Brittonia 3: 1-74.

Mathias, M.E. & Theobald, W.L. 1981.  A revision of the genus Hyperbaena.  Brittonia 33(1): 81-104.

Ortiz, R. 2000. Systematic revision of Curarea Barneby & Krukoff (Menispermaceae). Master's thesis unpublished, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

Ortiz, R. (undated). América Tropical - géneros comunes de Menispermaceae. Field Museum Plant Guides: http://fm2.fieldmuseum.org/plantguides/guideimages.asp?ID=283

Ortiz, R., Kellogg, A. and van der Werff, H. 2007. Molecular phylogeny of the moonseed family (Menispermaceae): implications for morphological diversification. Amer. J. Bot. 94:1425-1438.

Menispermaceae, Hutchinson and Dalziel. Flora of West Tropical Africa 1:1. 1954

Morphology General Habit

Twining, or rarely erect shrubs or small trees, with the wood in cross-section showing broad medullary rays

Morphology Leaves

Leaves petiolate, sometimes peltate, alternate, exstipulate, usually simple, rarely trifoliolate, or palmately lobed and nerved

Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences

Inflorescences cymose, paniculate, racemose, capitulate, fasciculate, or rarely the flowers solitary or geminate, axillary or borne on the leafless wood

Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers

Flowers small, inconspicuously coloured, unisexual, dioecious, actinomorphic, rarely slightly zygomorphic Male flowers: sepals 3–12 or more, rarely 1, generally in series, or slightly connate, imbricate or rarely valvate, the outer smaller; petals 1–6, usually in series, minute or absent, free, or rarely connate, usually imbricate; stamens 3–6 or indefinite, rarely 2, when few opposite the sepals, free or variously united; anthers short Female flowers: sepals and petals as in male flowers; staminodes present or absent; carpels 3–6 or more, rarely 1, free, sessile or stipitate; styles terminal or subterminal, rarely recurved; stigma terminal, entire or lobed; ovules 2, soon reduced to 1 by abortion, attached to the ventral suture

sex Male

Male flowers: sepals 3–12 or more, rarely 1, generally in series, or slightly connate, imbricate or rarely valvate, the outer smaller; petals 1–6, usually in series, minute or absent, free, or rarely connate, usually imbricate; stamens 3–6 or indefinite, rarely 2, when few opposite the sepals, free or variously united; anthers short

sex Female

Female flowers: sepals and petals as in male flowers; staminodes present or absent; carpels 3–6 or more, rarely 1, free, sessile or stipitate; styles terminal or subterminal, rarely recurved; stigma terminal, entire or lobed; ovules 2, soon reduced to 1 by abortion, attached to the ventral suture

Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits

Fruiting carpels drupaceous, with the scar of the style subterminal or near the base by excentric growth, sessile or stipitate; exocarp membranous or subcoriaceous, mesocarp more or less pulpy, endocarp often chartaceous or bony, rugose, tuberculate or ribbed; seed often curved in the form of a horseshoe, with uniform or ruminate endosperm or without endosperm; embryo often curved, with a small radicle and flat or semi–terete cotyledons