Lesser balloon vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum)

Ketipes or Lesser balloon vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum) is a species of plant in the Sapindaceae, herbaceous, climbing up to 10 meters, very dense and perennial, stems cylindrical, green, grooved, bald to slightly hairy.

C. halicacabum has triangular leaves, 5-6 cm long, spread on the stem, divided into stalks and pinnate leaves. The edges of the leaves are serrated.

The flowers are fan-shaped, four white to yellowish petals ovate and 3 mm long, the upper two are each decorated with hairy scales and the lower two have large leaf-shaped scales and two glands.

The fruit capsule is pear-shaped, membranous, almost round or wide, 3-5 cm in diameter, green and brown when ripe. The capsule has three chambers, each with one black seed, kidney-shaped, 6 mm in diameter and at the base there is a heart-shaped white aryl with a width of 5 mm.

The green part of the plant is eaten as a vegetable. The root is used as a diuretic, pain reliever, emetic, laxative, rubefacient, rheumatism, nervous diseases and hemorrhoids. The leaves are used for amenorrhea, lung complaints and skin eczema.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Genus: Cardiospermum
Species: Cardiospermum halicacabum
Variety: Cardiospermum halicacabum var. halicacabum, Cardiospermum halicacabum var. microcarpum

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