Climber or twiner up to 15 m. long; stems arising from an exposed or partially submerged swollen stem up to 1.5 m. in diameter and 75 cm. high, irregularly shaped, covered by a grey to buff often papery epidermis.. Young shoots pubescent, green when young, soon becoming grey to buff and often practically glabrous, covered with a few scattered pale lenticels.. Leaf-blade reniform to broadly ovate, with 3, 5, 7(–8) shallow irregular lobes, 4–12 cm. long, 4–11 cm. broad, the central lobe mucronate to emarginate depending on the position of the central vein hydathode, other lobes rounded, broadly cuneate to cordate at base, glabrous to densely pubescent; main veins 5, palmate, outer pair usually giving rise to another pair of major veins, all continued to margin and hydathode, prominent beneath, slightly raised above.. Flowers dioecious, more rarely monoecious or hermaphrodite, appearing on new shoots before or during early leaf.. Male flowers sessile, subtended by a small linear bracteole, aggregated into axillary or supraxillary elongate spikes up to 6 cm. long along whole length of rhachis; peduncle non-existent; rhachis densely strigose; perianth parts united at base to give 4–5(–6) deltoid to obtuse lobes up to 1.5 mm. long, glabrous within, ± pubescent outside; ovary replaced by a few coarse hairs.. Female flowers sessile, bracteolate, few on very short lateral shoots, bunched together; perianth parts 4–5, as in male; staminodes absent or present in the form of flattened filaments alone or less often bearing sterile anthers; ovary ovoid, densely strigose to pilose; stigma sessile, with radiate lobes.. Hermaphrodite flowers having both the typical ovary and stamens are also found, often at the base of a rhachis bearing male flowers at the apex.. Fruits aggregated and subsessile on short lateral branches, ellipsoid, slightly compressed, 1.5–2.0 cm. long, 7–10 mm. thick, 11–14 mm. across, turning yellow on ripening, hispid.
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