Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Balloon Vine (Cardiospermum halicacabum), of the Sapindaceae family. Slender tendrilled climbing vine; native range: Pantropical — throughout India, Africa and the Americas as a climbing weed of hedges and waste ground. Globally recognized as karnasphota / jyotishmati in Sanskrit, kanphuti / lataphatkari in Hindi, and heart pea, heart seed, love-in-a-puff, winter cherry in English. The part used is whole plant, leaves and root. A delicate vine hung with inflated three-sided balloons that rustle like paper, each holding round black seeds marked with a white heart.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
BALLOON VINE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Balloon Vine
- Scientific name
- Cardiospermum halicacabum L.
- Family
- Sapindaceae
Form
- Part used
- whole plant, leaves and root
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent · bitter (katu-tikta)
- Western
- bitter · pungent
- Unani
- bitter · pungent
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Western
- warm
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- joints · nerves · skin
- Unani
- nerves · stomach
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- vata-hara, shothahara (anti-inflammatory), vedanasthapana (analgesic), kaphahara
- Western
- rubefacient, diaphoretic, aperient, emmenagogue, and an anti-inflammatory in eczema and skin eruptions
- Unani
- muhallil-e-waram (resolvent of swellings), musakkin (soother of pain), mohallil
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pregnancy, as it is emmenagogic
- Toxicity
- generally well tolerated in traditional dose
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