Menispermaceae – Moonseed Family

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MENISPERMACEAE – MOONSEED FAMILY Plant: woody vines, rarely shrubs or trees Stem: Root: Leaves: simple or less commonly with 3 leaflets, alternate, entire or palmately lobed; no stipules Flowers: unisexual (dioecious); small, sepals and petals similar, usually 4 or 6 or absent – many exceptions, greenish to greenish white; usually 4-6 or many stamens, may be fused; ovary superior, 1-3-6 to many carpels Fruit: achene or drupe, 1 seed Other: common in tropics, some in temperate areas; Dicotyledons Group Genera: 78+ genera; WARNING – family descriptions are only a layman’s guide and should not be used as definitive MENISPERMACEAE – MOONSEED FAMILY Cupseed; Calycocarpum lyonii (Pursh) A. Gray Carolina Coralbead [Moonseed]; Cocculus carolinus (L.) DC. [Common] Moonseed; Menispermum canadense L. Cupseed USDA Calycocarpum lyonii (Pursh) A. Gray Menispermaceae (Moonseed Family) Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area, Christian County, Missouri Notes: vine; flowers greenish-white, 6 sepals (no petals); leaves large, shape varies but often wider than long, normally 3-5-7 lobed, petiole attaches to leaf at edge of leaf, base cordate; stem without tendrils; fruit (2-3 cm) turns black with age, seed margins erose, scooped out on one side hence the common name ‘Cupseed’; late spring to summer [V Max Brown, 2010] Carolina Coralbead USDA [Moonseed] Cocculus carolinus (L.) DC. Menispermaceae (Moonseed Family) Alley Springs, Ozark National Riverways, Shannon County, Missouri Notes: vine; flowers greenish-yellow, in clusters, monoecious; leaves alternate, simple, mostly unlobed to somewhat lobed, mostly triangular (some variation), hairy below, tip acute to rounded, petiole attachment usually at an angle; stem twining; fruit a bright, glossy berry in clusters, seed coral-like; summer [V Max Brown, 2010] seeds [Common] Moonseed USDA Menispermum canadense L. Menispermaceae (Moonseed Family) Pokagon State Park, Steuben County, Indiana Notes: vine; flowers greenish-white, small, in loose clusters, dioecious; leaves large, entire to somewhat lobed, usually a cordate base, petiole is attached to bottom of leaf near the margin (somewhat peltate); stem without tendrils; fruit blue to black (~ 1cm), usually a glaucous berry; summer [V Max Brown, 2006].

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