Botany:
· Prostrate or climbing shrub; when young, flattened, creeping and clinging close to adobe walls, woods, etc., and ascending to erect when old with ultimate branches 30 - 80 cm long.
· Leaves: more or less two-ranked, on very short petioles, ovate, 1.5 to 3 cm long with obtuse tip, round or heart-shaped based and with entire or slightly wavy margins. Leaves on the erect branches very much larger, oblong, 5 to 10 cm long and on long petiole.
· Flowers: minute, unisexual, arranged inside a fleshy receptacle called syconium. Syconium bell-shaped, 2.5 to 4 cm in diameter. Axillary, pedicel 3 to 5 cm long.
· Fruits: achenes found within the syconium.

Distribution
Grown widely as an ornamental plant or creeper; vigorous on adobe and concrete walls.

Parts utilized
· Stem, leaves and fruits.
· Stem and leaves: Collect year round,;rinse, cut into pieces;sun-dry.
· Fruits: Collect May to October; discard inside contents; sun-dry.

Properties
· Fruits are emmenagogue; sperm-invigorating, and lactation-inducing.
· Stem and leaves are stomachic; invigorates the circulation; refrigerant and anti-infectious.

Folkloric uses
· Fruits: For bed-wetting, impotency, orchitis.; lack of milk secretion and irregular menstruation.
· Decoction of fruits (9-24 g), stem and dried leaves (9-15 g) for rheumatism, arthritis and pains due to sprains,.and
· Furuncle.

Availability
Wild-crafted.