Colombo Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Colombo (Cocculus palmatus in our catalog; the accepted name is Jateorhiza palmata), the calumba root, is a tall twining vine of the moonseed family, Menispermaceae, native to the forests of Mozambique, Tanzania, and Madagascar, and named for the Mozambican port from which the root was once shipped to India and Europe. Its hairy stems climb high into trees, with large, rounded, palmately lobed leaves up to 30 centimeters across, small greenish flowers in slender hanging racemes, and bristly yellow fruits. The thick, fleshy, tuberous roots are cut into round slices that dry greyish-yellow with a bright yellow center and an intensely bitter taste. We extract the dried root.