4726.000 Cardiospermum L. - Heart-seeds

Description of the genus

Annual or perennial climbing herbs, stems ridged. Stipules small, caducous. Leaves alternate, compound (2-ternate to apparently pinnate). Inflorescence axillary, at the apex of a relatively long peduncle, with a pair of coiled tendrils just below. Flowers zygomorphic. Bracts minute. Sepals 4; lateral small, the other 2 larger. Petals 4. Stamens 8. Ovary 3-locular. Fruit an inflated membranous capsule. Seed black with a white, ovate to reniform (sometimes ± heart-shaped) hilum.

Derivation of name: Cardio: heart, spermum: a seed, referring to the heart-shaped hilum on the seed

Worldwide: 14 spp, mainly tropical America, but with 3 spp. widespread in the tropics.

Caprivi: 3 taxa.

Cardiospermum halicacabum var. halicacabum

Links to taxa: View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

Species	Content
corindum L.	Description, Image
halicacabum L. var. halicacabum	Description, Image
halicacabum L. var. microcarpum (Kunth) Blume	Description, Image

Other sources of information about Cardiospermum:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Cardiospermum
Flora of Burundi: Cardiospermum
Flora of Malawi: Cardiospermum
Flora of Mozambique: Cardiospermum
Flora of Zambia: Cardiospermum
Flora of Zimbabwe: Cardiospermum
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Cardiospermum

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Cardiospermum
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Cardiospermum
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Cardiospermum
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Cardiospermum
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Cardiospermum
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Cardiospermum
JSTOR Plant Science: Cardiospermum
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Cardiospermum
Plants of the World Online: Cardiospermum
Tropicos: Cardiospermum
Wikipedia: Cardiospermum