Urera cordifolia Engl.

A woody climber. Male and female plants are separate. It grows 10 m long. The stems are 3 cm across. They attach to other plants by roots along the stem. The stem is 5 lobed in cross section. Younger branches have stinging hairs. The leaves are simple and alternate. The leaf stalk is 12 cm long. The leaf blade is oval and 18 cm long. The base is rounded or heart shaped and it tapers to the tip. The flowers are in loose groups in the axils of leaves. The male stalks are 16 cm long and the female ones 6 cm long. The flowers are only of one sex. Male flowers have a 2 mm long stalk. Female flowers do not have a stalk. The fruit is dry and 2 mm long.

Common in the rain-forest zone; scrub on old cultivations, way sides; stream sides; in thickets at forest edges; at elevations from sea level to 1,440 metres.

The leaves are cooked in soups and in stews.

Can be grown by seedlings.