78 MENISPERMACEAE 



the apex. The laterally flattened fruit is red, and V^ to 14 i"ch 

 in diameter. It contains a kidney-shaped or horseshoe-shaped 

 stone. 



Distribution. — The Carolina Moonseed grows in woods 

 and thickets from Virginia to Kansas and south to Florida and 

 Texas. In Illinois, it occurs only in the extreme southern part, 

 where it ranges along the Mississippi, Ohio, and Wabash rivers, 

 reaching its most northern occurrence in the Wabash valley 

 near Little Rock Ferry, Wabash County, and running north- 

 ward into Jackson County along the Big Muddy River and 

 near Grand Towner. Apparently it does not pass north of the 

 Ozarks except along the rivers on either side. 



MENISPERMUM (Tournefort) Linnaeus 

 The Moonseeds 



The moonseeds are climbing vines with alternate, peltate or 

 cordate leaves that may be either lobed or entire and with 

 flowers that are dioecious and that grow in panicles. Each 

 flower has 4 to 8 sepals arranged in two series and 6 to 8 

 petals that are shorter than the sepals. There are 12 to 24 

 stamens and, in the fertile flowers, 2 to 4 pistils, each of which 

 matures as a fleshy, 1 -seeded, blackish drupe containing a 

 single crescent-shaped seed, for which the vine is named. 



There are two species of moonseed vines, one native in east- 

 ern North America, the other native in Asia. 



MENISPERMUM CANADENSE Linnaeus 

 Moonseed Vine Canada Moonseed 



The Moonseed Vine, fig. 15, is a climber of considerable 

 length, ranging from 6 to 25 feet or more, with twining, slight- 

 ly pubescent stems and with cordate and entire or 3- to 7-lobed 

 or angled, alternate leaves set on slender petioles. These 

 leaves are glabrate above and pubescent beneath, and measure 

 4 to 8 inches in width. Rarely, the petiole is set in near the mar- 

 gin so as to make the leaf somewhat peltate. The greenish- 

 white flowers occur in loose panicles, which arise from the 

 axils of the leaves and develop oblong, bluish-black drupes; 

 within the pulp of each a crescent-shaped seed is buried. 



Distribution. — The Moonseed, a relatively infrequent vine 



