A gigantic, umarmed climber, with twisted, angled stems, and glabrous branches; bark brownish, fibrous, often rough at the base. Leaves bipinnate, ending in a woody tendril; petioles 5 to 9 cm long; leaf rachis 15 cm long; pinnae 2 to 3 pairs, 10 cm long; leaflets 3.8 to 7.5 cm long and 2 to 3.2 cm wide, elliptic-obovate, glabrous, subaucte or emarginate at apex. Flowers yellowish-white, borne in peduncled, simple or panicled spikes up to 30 cm wide. Fruits (pods) woody, jointed, up to 1.5 m long and 10 cm wide; seeds 5 to 30, circular, flattened.

The seeds are used as a tonic, emetic, antiperiodic, and anthelmintic; stimulates the central nervous and cardiovascular systems (aerial part); alleviates spasms. (seed)

Taxon details

A saponin of entagenic acid, L-tyrosine-O-glucoside, beta-sitosterol, entamin, quercetin, gallic acid, alpha-amyrin, lupeol and cyanidin chloride (seed).

Epilepsy, cancer, anasarca and dropsy (plant); its paste is applied locally to relieve inflammatory and glandular swellings and also used as an emetic. The juice extracted from the bark and wood is applied externally to relieve ulcers.

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