Coscinium Fenestratum

  

Coscinium fenestratum (Weniwelgeta, වෙනිවැල්ගැට) or yellow vine as it is sometimes referred to in English, is a flowering woody climber, native to South Asia and Mainland Southeast Asia. It is rare and critically endangered in many of its habitats. Coscinium fenestratum is a member of the family Menispermaceae and the genus Coscinium. The plant is known by many different names, such as: Tree turmeric, False calumba, Colombo weed, Weniwel, Daru Haridra (in Sanskrit), Mara Manjal (in Tamil and Malayalam), Haem herb (in Thai), Voer Romiet (in Khmer)

The habitat for Coscinium fenestratum spans South Asia and parts of Southeast Asia, from India to Indonesia. It can only thrive in a tropical climate and prefers mixed and dense evergreen forest, with fertile soil and high moisture.

Coscinium fenestratum has a long history as a medicinal plant in the various traditional medicines of the region where it grows. This includes Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medicine in India, Sinhala medicine in Sri Lanka, the Kru Khmer healing traditions in Cambodia, traditional Vietnamese medicine of Thuoc Nam, etc.. The plant is used for a large variety of diseases and conditions, from fevers and diabetes to celiac disease and snake bites.

Because of the growing populations and industrialization of Asia, the demand for Coscinium fenestratum has increased manifold in the last decades, decimating the natural distribution of the plant dramatically. It is therefore now listed as rare and critically endangered in many of its habitats.