Tinospora, uncertain etymology. Smilax, convolvulus,
inus, like. [ refering to the twining habit].
Common name: Heart vine or tangle vine.
Uses
· Many people recognise this by its heart shaped leaf.
· Pounded stems are used as a poultice, which is heated
for body pains in legs and knees and for broken bones.
· Vine was tied firmly around the head to cure headaches.
Vigorous, glabrous, deciduous climber from underground rootstock; base of stems becoming thick and woody; bark paper thin, shedding easily from the stem; branches somewhat succulent, stems brown with prominent lenticles; leaves dark green on upper surface, pale green below, ovate, deeply and broadly cordate at the base; male and female flowers on separate plants; inflorescence pseudo-racemes of fascicles, with usually 3 flowers per fascicle, sometimes appearing when the plant is leafless; flowers small, greenish, anthers bright yellow, prominent; fruit a drupe, usually 2 or 3 per flower, ellipsoid, clustered, green, turning bright red on ripening; seed embedded in a sticky, mucilaginous pulp.
Common in vine thicket behind coastal dunes
at Martins Well, and on sandstone plateau of Dampier Hill, Cape
Leveque, One Arm Point, Pender Bay and Broome. Common throughout
the Peninsula. Also occurs in NT, Qld and NSW.
Bardi name = oondal. Yawuru name = kalalamburr.
Young plants, leaves and stems medicinal,
for rheumatism, warmed and applied to affected area; used as
a rope and worn as a headband in ceremonies.
The fruits are often eaten and dispersed by Mistletoe Birds.
Aerial stems severed during the wet season produce roots which
may reach the ground.
Flowering February-November;
fruiting April-September.
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