Stems slender, glabrous, unarmed, climbing sinistrorsely; leaves alternate; petioles up to 6 cm. long, glabrous; leaf blades ovate-orbicular, up to 11 cm. long and 8.5 cm. wide, abruptly acuminate, deeply cordate at base, thin-mem-branous, pale yellow-green, glabrous, 11-nerved; staminate inflorescences 2-4 in an axil, 10-30 cm. long, unbranched, or rarely a little branched, the rhachis glabrous, minutely scabrous; flowers sessile in few-flowered fascicles; perianth seg-ments green, 1.3 mm. long, ovate, united in tube at base, glabrous; fertile stamens 3, inserted on perianth segments, the filaments short, the connective broad, the anther cells disjunct, extrorse; staminodia 3, nearly as long as the filaments, bifid at apex; rudimentary style large; pistillate spikes solitary or paired, unbranched, 15 cm. long or less, glabrous; capsules oval, about 1.7 cm. long and 1.2 cm. wide, glabrous; seeds winged all around.
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A yam. It is a climbing plant that keeps growing from year to year by producing slender twining stems from a large tuberous rootstock. The vine can be 8 m long. The stems are almost cylinder shaped. The leaves are alternate and oval with 7-11 veins. The leaves are 8-21 cm long by 5-17 cm wide. They taper to the tip and are heart shaped at the base. The upper surface is shiny and the lower surface is dull. The leaf stalks are 5-8 cm long. The bulbils on the stem are angular and 5 cm wide. The flowers hang down in the axils of the leaves. They can be branched and 50 cm long. The flowers are in groups without stalks. The capsule has 3 wings and is about 3 cm long.
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