Skip to main content

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.

Dlium Lesser balloon vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum)


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

Popular Posts

Javan broadhead planarian (Bipalium javanum)

Cacing palu or Javan broadhead planarian ( Bipalium javanum ) is a species of animal in Geoplanidae, hermaphrodite, living on the ground, predators, often called only hammerhead or broadhead or shovel worms because of wide heads and simple copulatory organs. B. javanum has a slim stature, up to 20 cm long, up to 0.5 cm wide, head wide up to 1 cm or less, small neck, widening in the middle and the back end is rounded, all black and shiny. Javan broadhead planarians walk above ground level by raising their heads and actively looking left, right and looking up using strong neck muscles. Move swiftly, track meander, climb to get through all obstacles or make a new path if the obstacle is too high. Cacing palu track and prey on earthworms and mollusks. They use muscles and sticky secretions to attach themselves to prey to lock in. The head and ends of the body are wrapped around and continue to close the body to stop prey reactions. They produce tetrodotoxins which are very strong...

Thomas Sutikna lives with Homo floresiensis

BLOG - On October 28, 2004, a paper was published in Nature describing the dwarf hominin we know today as Homo floresiensis that has shocked the world. The report changed the geographical landscape of early humans that previously stated that the Pleistocene Asia was only represented by two species, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens . The report titled "A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia" written by Peter Brown and Mike J. Morwood from the University of New England with Thomas Sutikna, Raden Pandji Soejono, Jatmiko, E. Wahyu Saptomo and Rokus Awe Due from the National Archaeology Research Institute (ARKENAS), Indonesia, presents more diversity in the genus Homo. “Immediately, my fever vanished. I couldn’t sleep well that night. I couldn’t wait for sunrise. In the early morning we went to the site, and when we arrived in the cave, I didn’t say a thing because both my mind and heart couldn’t handle this incredible moment. I just went down...

Brown-woolly fig (Ficus drupacea)

Brown-woolly fig ( Ficus drupacea ) is a species of plant in the Moraceae, a tropical tree, cylindrical and 10-30 meters tall. The leaves are oval, up to 16 cm long, up to 6 cm wide, with petioles up to 2 cm long. The fruit is round-oval, up to 3 cm long, up to 2 cm wide, young yellow and old red. The fruit is eaten by pigeons, and pollinated by Eupristina belgaumensis . Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Moraceae Tribe: Ficeae Genus: Ficus Species: Ficus drupacea