Tinospora cordifolia ID 120909GS1

[Gurcharan Singh]

Sending photographs of Tinospora cordifolia ID 120909GS1 for verification and help

 

Needing help in clearing my doubts on Tinospora cordifolia, which was in news recently as cure for swine flue.

 

We have one species of Tinospora reported from our area: Tinospora cordifolia, and that was fine until I consulted Efloras of Pakistan and China. Both Flora of British India and Indian Trees by Brandis differentiate T. cordifolia Miers and T. malabarica Miers as followes:

 

T. cordifolia: Leaves cordate, glabrous, 5-10 cm diam., acute or acuminate; petiole 4-7 cm long.(flowers yellow; drupes red, size of small cherry or pea)

 

T. malabarica: Leaves ovate-cordate, pubescent above wooly beneath, 7-15 cm diam, acuminate. petiole 10 cm, hairy. (flowers yellow, drupes red)

 

I have not seen plant in flowering but have noticed a few things. The leaves in our specimens are totally glabrous, but may reach size of up to 20 cm, especially in open situations climbing on trees. I have also noticed that although in deep forest areas leaves are totally shed for atleast 4-5 months, few branches have leaves for almost the whole year in open situations.

 

Eflora of Pakistan believes that T. cordifolia of Hook.f. & Thoms. is not the T. cordifolia of Miers, and rather T. malabarica Miers. which is widely cultivated in India, Pakistan, Burma and Sri Lanka. It is locally known as Giloe.

 

Flora of China, on the other hand do not mention anything about T. malabarica Miers (which is correctly (DC) Miers), relegate both T. malabarica (Lam.) Hook.f. et Thoms. and T. tomentosa (Coleb.) Hook.f. & Thoms. of FBI as synonyms of T. sinensis (Lour.) Merrill.

 

With this information, the correct identity of our material is further confusing. Any member having photographs of true T. malabarica (with tomentose leaves and branches) may kindly upload the same, to help resolve the issue.

 I am uploading my photographs of what I know as T. cordifolia, growing in Delhi

 

 

Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College
University of Delhi, Delhi
India
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45

[Neil Soares]

Hi Prof. Singh,   Dr.M.R.Almeida in his 'Flora of Maharashtra'  has listed 2 species of Tinospora:     1. Tinospora glabra [T.cordifolia] &  2.Tinospora sinensis [T.malabarica].      Sending you a photograph of T. sinensis [T.malabarica]. This was identified by Dr.Almeida on a visit to my farm near Bombay in August 2007.                        With regards,                          Neil Soares.   --- On Sat, 9/12/09, Gurcharan Singh <sin...@sify.com> wrote:

[Avinash dada]

It seems to be T. cordifolia Not T. sinensis
 i m not sure but check it

[Gurcharan Singh]

Near Neil

Thanks for information, and photograph of T. sinensis

 

However, T. cordifolia is not synonym of T. cordifolia. Both occur in India. A new species of Tinospora has been published from Kerala in 2009. Here is the link.

 

http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FEJB%2FEJB66_01%2FS0960428609005204a.pdf&code=3ef7f3e8fc5f2ecdd36eebf438633b36

 

Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College
University of Delhi, Delhi
India
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45

[Gurcharan Singh]

I am resending the link

 

http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=4481392

 

 

[santhosh kumar es]

Dear Sir,

 

Tinospora codifolia (or T. glabra), T. sinensis (T. malabarica) and T. formanii are the three species of Tinospora occuring in Kerala. Your first posting was Tinospora cordifolia and the second one Mr Neil Soares is T.sinensis. I have no doubt about it. T. sinensis is usually seen in deciduous forests, hairy throughout the leaves and young stem whereas T. cordifolia is entirely glabrous.

 

Santhosh

2009/9/12 Gurcharan Singh <sin...@sify.com>

--
SANTHOSH
-----------------------------------

Dr. E S SANTHOSH KUMAR
Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Palode
Thiruvananthapuram-695562
Kerala, India
www.drsanthosh.wetpaint.com
 Please consider your environmental responsibility:Before printing this e-mail, ask yourself whether you need a hard copy!

[Gurcharan Singh]

Dear Santosh ji

Can you please send me the distinguishing characters of T. cordifolia and T. glabra. In the link that I had sent about a new species described from Kerala in 2009, it is mentioned that both T. cordifolia and T. glabra occur in India.

 

Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College
University of Delhi, Delhi
India
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45

----- Original Message -----

From: santhosh kumar es

To: Gurcharan Singh

Cc: indiantreepix

Sent: Saturday, September 12, 2009 6:22 PM

Subject: Re: [indiantreepix:18229] Tinospora cordifolia ID 120909GS1

Dear Sir,

 

Tinospora codifolia (or T. glabra), T. sinensis (T. malabarica) and T. formanii are the three species of Tinospora occuring in Kerala. Your first posting was Tinospora cordifolia and the second one Mr Neil Soares is T.sinensis. I have no doubt about it. T. sinensis is usually seen in deciduous forests, hairy throughout the leaves and young stem whereas T. cordifolia is entirely glabrous.

 

Santhosh

2009/9/12 Gurcharan Singh <sin...@sify.com>

Sending photographs of Tinospora cordifolia ID 120909GS1 for verification and help

 

Needing help in clearing my doubts on Tinospora cordifolia, which was in news recently as cure for swine flue.

 

We have one species of Tinospora reported from our area: Tinospora cordifolia, and that was fine until I consulted Efloras of Pakistan and China. Both Flora of British India and Indian Trees by Brandis differentiate T. cordifolia Miers and T. malabarica Miers as followes:

 

T. cordifolia: Leaves cordate, glabrous, 5-10 cm diam., acute or acuminate; petiole 4-7 cm long.(flowers yellow; drupes red, size of small cherry or pea)

 

T. malabarica: Leaves ovate-cordate, pubescent above wooly beneath, 7-15 cm diam, acuminate. petiole 10 cm, hairy. (flowers yellow, drupes red)

 

I have not seen plant in flowering but have noticed a few things. The leaves in our specimens are totally glabrous, but may reach size of up to 20 cm, especially in open situations climbing on trees. I have also noticed that although in deep forest areas leaves are totally shed for atleast 4-5 months, few branches have leaves for almost the whole year in open situations.

 

Eflora of Pakistan believes that T. cordifolia of Hook.f. & Thoms. is not the T. cordifolia of Miers, and rather T. malabarica Miers. which is widely cultivated in India, Pakistan, Burma and Sri Lanka. It is locally known as Giloe.

 

Flora of China, on the other hand do not mention anything about T. malabarica Miers (which is correctly (DC) Miers), relegate both T. malabarica (Lam.) Hook.f. et Thoms. and T. tomentosa (Coleb.) Hook.f. & Thoms. of FBI as synonyms of T. sinensis (Lour.) Merrill.

 

With this information, the correct identity of our material is further confusing. Any member having photographs of true T. malabarica (with tomentose leaves and branches) may kindly upload the same, to help resolve the issue.

 I am uploading my photographs of what I know as T. cordifolia, growing in Delhi

 

 

Dr. Gurcharan Singh
Associate Professor
SGTB Khalsa College
University of Delhi, Delhi
India
http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45

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