male flowers 3–5 in bracteate, pedunculate, subumbelliform inflorescences, only one flower opening at a time; peduncle 1·3–6 cm. long; bracts 5–9 × 7–18 mm., resembling the leaves but smaller, 3–7-lobed; pedicels 2·0–4·4 cm. long. Receptacle-tube 2–5 mm. long, lobes 5–10 mm. long, ovate or oblong-ovate, acute, shortly acuminate or apiculate. Petals 1·4–3·6 cm. long, yellow, dark-veined, dark at the base, broadly obovate, rounded, apiculate.
Prostrate or scandent herb. Tendrils bifid. Stems and petioles concolorous, uniformly green. Leaf lamina and bracts deeply palmately 7(or more)-lobate; lobes sube-qual and markedly lobulate. Male flowers 76-127 mm pedunculate, subumbelliform inflorescences, opening singly. Fruit 50-60 x 47 mm, ellipsoid or subglobose, rostrate, 10-ribbed, muricate. Flowers yellow, dark-veined, dark at base.
Female flowers solitary; peduncle 3–7 cm. long, sometimes bracteate; ovary c. 20 × 5 mm., ellipsoid-rostrate, pubescent, muricate; receptacle-tube 2 mm. long, lobes c. 5 mm. long, ovate-triangular, shortly acuminate, acute, apiculate; petals c. 2·5–3·5 cm. long.
Leaf-lamina 1·3–3·1 × 3·4–5·5 cm., suborbicular to transversely elliptic in outline, deeply cordate, densely shortly setulose becoming densely asperous-punctate, slightly succulent, deeply palmately multilobate, the lobes subequal, rather sharply lobulate.
Seeds c. 20 × 20 × 7–8 mm., orbicular in outline, more or less compressed, with smooth undulate faces, slightly ridged edges and grooved margins.
Stems prostrate or occasionally scandent, to 2 m., rather densely crispate-pubescent, arising from perennial rootstock.
Fruit 5–6 × 4·7 cm., ellipsoid or subglobose, rostrate, 10-ribbed, muricate, reddish-brown.
Petioles 1·8–6 cm. long, very densely crispate-pubescent.
Flowers monoecious.
Tendrils 2-fid.