Menispermum canadense (Canadian Moonseed, Common Moonseed, or Yellow Parilla) is a flowering plant in the family Menispermaceae, native to eastern North America, from southern Canada south to northern Florida, and from the Atlantic coast west to Manitoba and Texas. It occurs in thickets, moist woods, and the banks of streams.
It is a woody climbing vine growing to 6 m tall. The leaves palmately lobed, 5-20 cm diameter with 3-7 shallow lobes, occasionally rounded and unlobed. The fruit are produced in 6-10 cm diameter clusters of purple-black berries, each berry is 1-1.5 cm in diameter. The seed inside the berry resembles a crescent moon, and is responsible for the common name.
A new phenolic dauricine-type alkaloid together with the know dauricine were isolated from the rhizoma of Menispermum dauricum DC cultivated in Xianning district, Hubei province.