A woody climber or twiner with slender terete stems of light open structure, and rarely reaching an inch in diameter. Leaves alternate, on longish slender petioles inserted more or less within the margin of the blade, nearly orbicular, with an acute apex and faintly cordate base, entire, palmately veined, smooth above, silky beneath or when young on both sides, bright full green. Flowers dioecious, very small; the male in branched, solitary or fasciculate, rather dense panicles; the female stalked, in fascicles of 5 or 6 in the axils of roundish, leafy, readily deciduous bracts. Seed strongly curved, filling the cavity; testa very thin, attached to the process; embryo slender, terete, much curved in the axis of the endosperm; cotyledons linear, imcumbent.

Depresses the central nervous system (root and stem) and relaxes muscles (root); anthelmintic, astringent, reduces fever, antihistaminic and diuretic, antileukemic.

Tropical Plant Database
Herb Information

Berberine, cycleanine, tetrandrine, L-beberine, hayatinine, hayatine, hayatidine, insularine, cissamine, cissampareine and cissampine (root).

Urinary troubles, diarrhea, abdominal pain and as a snakebite antidote (root), leukemia, in fevers, dysentery, dropsy, dyspepsia and nephritis.

It relaxes the uterus and is contraindicated in pregnancy. It may also potentiate medications used to treat hypertension.

Sharma, Classical Uses of Medicinal Plants.