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Cardiospermum halicacabum - L.

Heart Seed

Author	L.	Botanical references	43, 50, 200
Family	Sapindaceae	Genus	Cardiospermum
Synonyms
Known Hazards	None known
Range	E. Asia - India. N. America. Africa. Locally naturalized in S. Europe[50].
Habitat	Moist thickets and waste ground in Eastern N. America[43].
Edibility Rating	1 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	2 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

A decidious Climber growing to 3m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Woodland Garden; Dappled Shade; South Wall By; West Wall By;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Leaves.

Leaves and young shoots - cooked[1, 105, 177, 272]. Used as a spinach[2].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Emetic; Emmenagogue; Laxative; Refrigerant; Rubefacient; Stomachic.

The whole plant is diaphoretic, diuretic, emetic, emmenagogue, laxative, refrigerant, rubefacient, stomachic and sudorific[218]. It is used in the treatment of rheumatism, nervous diseases, stiffness of the limbs and snakebite[240, 243]. The leaves are rubefacient, they are applied as a poultice in the treatment of rheumatism[240, 243]. A tea made from them is used in the treatment of itchy skin[218]. Salted leaves are used as a poultice on swellings[218].The leaf juice has been used as a treatment for earache[240, 243]. The root is diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, laxative and rubefacient[240]. It is occasionally used in the treatment of rheumatism, lumbago and nervous diseases[240].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

Prefers a moist soil and a sunny sheltered position[138], but succeeds in most soils[1]. A frost-tender deciduous climber, it is grown as an annual in Britain[188].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse. Germination usually takes place within 3 - 4 weeks at 20°c[138]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a greenhouse for at least their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.

Links

References

[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[138] Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 3. Thompson and Morgan. 1989
Very readable magazine with lots of information on propagation.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[243] Medicinal Plants of Nepal Dept. of Medicinal Plants. Nepal. 1993
Terse details of the medicinal properties of Nepalese plants, including cultivated species and a few imported herbs.

[272] Manandhar. N. P. Plants and People of Nepal Timber Press. Oregon. 2002 ISBN 0-88192-527-6
Excellent book, covering over 1,500 species of useful plants from Nepal together with information on the geography and peoples of Nepal. Good descriptions of the plants with terse notes on their uses.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Cardiospermum halicacabum

Nini Tun Thu Mar 1 2007

This is the website of our family. You can learn alot about medicinal plants in this site. We translanted from Myanmar (Burmese) to English. Get knowledge.

Cardiospermum halicacabum

indira Tue Sep 4 2007

does this plant have any antimicrpobial activity

Cardiospermum halicacabum

karthiga Tue Sep 4 2007

what the procedures to estimate alkaloids,terpenoids,flavonids,tannis

Cardiospermum halicacabum

alessa beringer Tue Jun 10 2008

I am trying to buy cardiospermum halicacabum leaves as an herb to use . Can you help me in anyway to find someone that I can buy them from ?? Thank you, Alessa

Cardiospermum halicacabum

samuel Mon Feb 2 2009

Dear sir, if you need of Cardiospermum halicacabum please contect me i will send you at your place freely and requst you to pay the trosporting cost only

Cardiospermum halicacabum

RAVICHANDRAN.S Sat Apr 11 2009

ravichandran.s 11.04.2009 Does this plant have any Anti inflammatory activity.

Cardiospermum halicacabum

Nambatya Sat May 16 2009

Can this plant be used to lower the effects of HIV / AIDS

Cardiospermum halicacabum

Padma Fri Jul 17 2009

I am in need of Cardiospermum halicacabum whole plant dried 20 kg. can you supply.

Cardiospermum halicacabum

arasu Sat Sep 26 2009

Hi we can supply the herbal Cardiospermum halicacabum .very use full herbs, if you want the items send us your feed back soon, reg arasu www.tanhoardexports.com tilipji@yahoo.com

an hoard exports

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