Menispermaceae is a family of climbing twining
vines, small trees and shrubs. One example is moonseed.
There are over 70 genera and 400 species worldwide, mostly pantropic. Chondrodendron
tomentosum,
a tropical plant of South America, is the source of curare (tubocurarine
choride) used as a muscle relaxant
during neurosurgery and an arrow poison.