Cissampelos pareira Linn. var.hirsuta (Buch.-Ham. ex DC.) Forman syn. C.hirsuta Buch.-Ham. ex DC.; C. pareira Linn. var. ß; C. pareira Hook. f. & Thoms. Menispermaceae Leaves, twigs Distribution Area A very variable, lofty, slender, dioecious, perennial climber, commonly distributed throughout tropical and sub-tropical India, ascending up to an altitude of c 2,000 m. Common Uses . The leaves are eaten as potherb, and reported to be cooling. Crushed and boiled with rice, the leaf is given as a tonic and in heart complaints; fresh juice is applied in eye-diseases. Plant juice with jaggery and egg is given internally for minor injuries. The poultice of leaves is applied to abscesses, sores, scabies, itches, pimples, boils and burns. The decoction, mixed with lemon and garlic juice and salt is given as stomachic. The roots possess astringent, mild tonic, diuretic, stomachic, antilithic, analgesic, anti-pyretic and emmenagogue properties. They are frequently prescribed for treating cough, dyspepsia, diarrhoea, dysentery, piles, dropsy, urino-genital troubles such as prolapsus uteri, cystitis, haemorrhage and menorrhagia, and calcular nephritis. The juice is given to cattle also for curing diarrhoea. The root-paste is applied to scabies and eruptions on the body of babies All parts of the plant are used as medicine. The dried roots form the drug, commercially known as FALSE PAREIRA BRAVA, and sometimes confused with the TRUE PAREIRA BRAVA, derived either from Chondrodendron tomentosum Ruiz & Pav., a native of Peru and Brazil, or C. platyphyllum Miers. The drug consists of long, cylindrical, oval or compressed pieces of the root, entire or longitudinally split, 0.1-1.20 cm x 1.2-10.0 cm; bark greyish brown, longitudinally wrinkled, transversely crossed by annular elevations, interior wood yellowish grey, porous with concentric rings and medullary rays; aromatic and sweetish at first, turning intensely bitter later.The cultivation of the plant was attempted at Lucknow for the alkaloid, hayatine The stems yield a strong fibre used for ropes.