Shrubs climbing. Stems terete, obscurely striate, villous. Leaves- Petiole 1-4 cm, densely brown villous; leaf blade oblong to ovate-oblong, rarely ovate-lanceolate, 6-16 × 3.5-5 cm, leathery, abaxially densely brown or gray pubescent, adaxially villous along veins, veins pinnate, 4-6 pairs, base rounded, apex acute or obtuse. Racemes on old woody stems, 2-4-flowered, 4-6 cm. Pedicel 5-7 cm, pendulous, densely villous; bractlets subulate, 3-8 × ca. 1 mm. Calyx purple with yellow blotches, throat white; tube horseshoe-shaped, abaxially densely villous; basal portion of tube 40-50 × 8-10 mm; limb subrotund-peltate, 4-6 cm in diam., shallowly 3-lobed; lobes equal, acute; anthers oblong, 4-5 mm; gynostemium 3-lobed. Capsule 5-10 × 3-5 cm, dehiscing basipetally. Seeds ovoid-deltoid, 5-7 × 3-4 mm.

Antirheumatic and diuretic (roots).

Plants For A Future

Aristolochic acid (plant)

The roots are indicated in the treatment of rheumatic arthritis, lung disorders, oedema and oliguria. The plant is indicated in the treatment of acute and serious infections such as TB, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and infantile pneumonia. It also increases the cellular immunity and phagocytosis function of the phagocytic cells.