Common Name:

General Information

Tinospora caffra is a climbing shrub producing stems up to 5 metres long that twine around other plants for support[]. The stems are up to 25cm in diameter[].
The leaves are sometimes gathered from the wild for local medicinal use.

Known Hazards

The plant is used to prepare fish poison[].

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Central African Republic, east to Kenya and south to the Caprivi Strip (Namibia), Botswana, Mozambique and eastern South Africa.

Habitat

Dense humid forest, deciduous bushland, in drier areas often on rock outcrops, at elevations up to 2,000 metres[].

Properties

Medicinal Rating
Habit	Deciduous Climber
Height	5.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Grows best in a sunny position in a well-drained soil[].
A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if seed is required.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

Juice from the pounded leaves is applied to wounds as an antiseptic[].
The steam from the leaves placed in boiling water is inhaled to sooth body pain[].
The leaves are mixed with the leaves of other plants, sprinkled with water and then spread through the bedroom as a treatment against sleeping problems[].

Agroforestry Uses:

Some species in this genus are the larval hosts of fruit-piercing noctuid moths that cause significant damage to crops
of Citrus (particularly Mandarins) and Dimocarpus longan (Longan) in Thailand[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed -

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