A large, bushy, evergreen, parasitic plant with smooth grey bark; young parts glabrous or nearly so. Leaves supopposite, coriaceous, highly variable in size and shape, most often ovate-oblong, 7.5 to 20 cm long and 2 to 10 cm wide, apex and base usually obtuse, margins often minutely white; petioles 0 to 13 mm long. Flowers borne inshort, spreading axillary racemes; pedicels short; bract 1.6 mm long, broadly ovate, concave; calyx 4 mm long, more or less tomentose, tube cylindrical, limb cupular, truncate or shortly 5 toothed. Fruit a fleshy, ovoid or oblong berry 0.8 to 1.7 cm long and 0.06 cm wide, bright pink when mature.

Abortifacient (stem); antiviral and lowers blood pressure (50% EtOH plant extract, excluding root); increases blood pressure and myocardial effect (leaf extract); narcotic (bark)

Flavonoids (leaf); beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, beta-amyrin acetate, methyl esteracetate and oleanolic acid (stem); from 50% EtOH plant extract (excluding root) and from aqueous extract of leaf.

As an abortifacient (stem); brain tonic and in skin diseases (plant); menstrual problems, wounds and asthma (bark); is used to treat wounds, as emmenagogue and as a remedy for consumption, asthma and mania. The lukewarm leaf juice is used as an eardrop to cure earache.

Chandel et al., Biodiversity in Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in India.