Moonseed
|
Moonseed | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
Species | ||||||||||||
|
Moonseed (Menispermum) is a genus of two species of deciduous climbing woody plant, native to northeastern North America (M. canadense, Canadian Moonseed) and northeastern Asia (M. davuricum, Asian Moonseed). The name derives from the shape of the seed, which resembles a crescent moon.
The roots are used in herbal medicine as a tonic, alterative, and diuretic.
Moonseed is also the title of a 1998 Science Fiction book by the author Stephen Baxter.