Description
Heart-leaved moonseed (गुर्जो) is a widely used plant in folk and Ayurvedic systems of medicine. It is a glabrous climbing shrub with a succulent stem and papery bark that is creamy white to grey in color. The shrub shoots out aerial roots, usually on neem and mango trees, which could be as long as 30 meters. It bears heart-shaped leaves. The yellow flowers are axillary and long-stalked racemes. The fruit is pea-sized, sub globose drupe and red colored on maturity. Flowers can be seen in June, while fruits occur in November. This plant is mainly distributed from 500 to 1100 m in terai and mid-hills of Nepal. Flowering of this plant generally occurs from April- November whereas harvesting occurs from February – April.
