Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Cissampelos pareira L.

oreja de ratón, curarina, pareira brava, hairy cissampelos

Photo: .
Photo: .

Slender vine, 5 m or more, with numerous lateral shoots and slender petioles. Corolla 1-1.4 mm across, greenish. The fruit is curved, U-shaped, exocarp slightly fleshy, salmon to scarlet (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).

Found in shade and partially open forest and scrub (Wiggins and Porter, 1971).

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Plantae

Phylum
Magnoliophyta

Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)

Order
Ranunculales

Family
Menispermaceae

Genus
Cissampelos

Species
pareira

Taxon category: Accepted

In Itow (1997) as Cisampelos pareira.

Origin: Native

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: The native range of this species is Tropics & Subtropics (POWO, 2023).

References

  • Adsersen, H. (s.a.) Personal observations Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished Manuscript.
  • Andersson, N.J. (1855) Om Galápagos Öarnes Vegetation. Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps Akademien Handl., Stockholm: 61-256.
  • Andersson, N.J. (1861-1862) Ueber Die Vegetation der Galapagos-Inseln Linnaea 31: 571-631
  • Andersson, N.J. (1858) Flora of the Galápagos Islands (translated from Swedish). Kongliga Svenska Vetenskaps-Academien Botanik 1: 3-34
  • Brako, L. Zarucchi,J.L. (1993) Catalogue of the Flowering Plants and Gymnosperms of Peru. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 45: i–xl, 1–1286.
  • Cayot, L. J. (1987) Ecology of Giant Tortoise (Geochelone elephantopus)in the Galápagos Islands. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology in the Graduate School of Syracuse University.
  • Christophersen, E. (1932) A Collection of Plants from the Galápagos Islands. Nyt Mag. Naturvidenskaberne 70: 67-95.
  • D'Arcy, W.G. (1987) Flora of Panama. Checklist and Index. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 17(1): i–xxx, 1–328; 18(2): i–ix, 1–672.
  • Fosberg, F. R. (1987) Vegetación inalterada en Fernandina, 1964 Memorias. Investigación Botánica y Manejo en Galápagos. Pg. 66-74
  • Hooker, J.D. (1847) An Enumeration of the Plants of the Galapagos Archipelago; with descriptions of those which are new. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 20: 163-233.
  • Hooker, J.D. (1847) On the Vegetation of the Galápagos Islands as Compared with that of some other Tropical Islands Of the Continet of America. Trans. Linn. Soc. London 20: 235-262.
  • Itow, S. (1997) List of Plant Specimens collected in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Bulletin of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Nagasaki University, Natural Science, 38 (1): 53-144.
  • Itow, S. (1987) Comunidades Herbaceas y Ericaceas en las tierras altas de Santa Cruz Islas Galápagos. Pg. 52 - 65. Memorias: Taller sobre investigación Botánica y manejo en Galápagos.
  • Jaramillo, P. (1998) Distribución Espacial de la Vegetación Vascular y Dispersión de Especies Introducidas dentro del Parque Nacional Galápagos. Tesis de Doctorado en Biología, Universidad Central del Ecuador. Especialización ECOLOGIA DE POBLACIONES.
  • McMullen, C.K. (1999) Flowering plants of the Galapagos. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London, 370 pp.
  • Rhodes, D.G. (1975) A revision of the genus Cissampelos. Phytologia 30(6): 415–484.
  • Robinson, B.L. (1902) Flora of the Galapagos Islands. Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Expedition to the Galapgaos Islands. Proc. Amer. Acad. 38(4): 78-270.
  • Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2022) Plants of the world online POWO (2022): Plants of the world online. Published on the Internet; Https://powo.science.kew.org/
  • Schofield, E.K. (1971) Field Guide to Some Common Galápagos Plants. Lindblad Travel, Inc., NY: 1-42.
  • Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
  • Svenson, H.K. (1935) Plants of the Astor Expedition, 1930 (Galapagos and Cocos Islands). Am. J. Bot. 22: 208-277.
  • Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
  • Van der Werff, H.H. (s.a.) Pers. obs. and colls. Personal observations and collections.
  • Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Cissampelos pareira", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=606. Accessed 30 October 2026.