Distribution and habitat: India and east part of Africa. 

Botany: A perennial dioecious root climber, stems semi-woody, climbing by many short adventitious rootlets, very stout, much thickened at nodes, young parts glabrous. 

• Leaves:  Large, 15-20 cm, broadly ovate, slightly cordate and often a little unequal at base, shortly acuminate, acute, entire but margin often rather undulate, usually 7 nerved, glabrous, thick, bright green and shining on both sides, petiole 2-2.5 cm, stout.
• Flowers : Spikes dense, cylindrical, female 2.5-5 cm, pendulous, bracts triangular-rotundate, peltate, yellow, rachis pilose; stigmas 5 or 6, spreading stellately.
• Fruit: Sparingly produced, quite immersed in the fleshy spike which is about 5 cm long and pendulous.

Chemical constituent: 

• Leaves- Vitamin A & C, thiamine, riboflavin, nicotinic acid, glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose, malic acid, oxalic acid, amino acids, β-& γ-sitosterols, hentriacontane pentatriacontane, n-triacontanol, stearic acid, chavibetol acetate and allylpylrocatechol diacetate
• Essential oil- eugenol, carvacrol,chavicol, allylcatechol, cineole and p- cymene
• Roots- β-sitosterol, diosgenin, Vines- tocopherol, eugenol

Uses:

• Used in the treatment of night blindness, catarrh, diphtheria etc.
• Its leaf can be used against fever, eye infection, mouth ulcer, cough, skin irritation, wounds and swellings.

Propagation: By stem cuttings (approximately 40-50 cm long).