A liana often cultivated as a straggling shrub, with square young stems and erect main stems bearing horizontal branches with recurved hooks. Leaves opposite, subcoriaceous, and entire, ovate to (broadly) elliptic, (6—)9—12(—15) cm x (3.5—)5—7(—8) cm, rounded to subcordate at base, acute at apex, glabrous, with 5—6 pairs of lateral nerves, raised below and with hairy domatia. Flowers in heads on horizontal plagiotropic branches; heads (3.5—)4—5 cm in diameter (across corollas), receptacle densely hairy, interfloral bracteoles absent; pedicel up to 3 mm long, hypanthium 1—2 mm in diameter, densely yellow-brown hairy; calyx 3—4.5 mm long, with 5 trigonal, 1—2 mm long lobes, finely pubescent, persistent; corolla hypocrateriform with 8—10(—12) mm long tube, exterior sparsely to densely pubescent, and 5 oblong, 2—3 mm long lobes, exterior densely yellow-brown sericeous, quickly falling off from the heads; stamens 5, adnate to the corolla; ovary inferior, style exserted 5—7 mm, stigma obovoid to clavate, ca. 2 mm. Fruiting head (50—)60—80 mm in diameter, fruitlets (capsules) 14—18 mm long, sparsely pubescent and crowned by the calyx, many seeded; fruit stalks up to 20 mm long. Seeds very tiny, silvery-grey.

Used as an astringent and as styptic (plant)

PROSEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) Foundation

An infusion of fresh leaves is given against diarrhoea, dysentery andinflamed gums, and as a gargle for sore throats. It is applied externally against sciatica and lumbago, in lotions for burns and in a paste for scurf.