History:
This plant is used in Indian medicine as a coloring agent and Cakradatta (10 cent. A.D.?) recommended it as an application to the brown spots of pityriasis vesicolor. Ainslie observes that the hakims are in the habit of prescribing an infusion of this plant’s root as a deobstruent drink in cases of scanty lochial discharge after lying-in. Kinnier and Tavernier notice the abundance of this plant in Persia and Makran.

Distribution:
Common throughout India , ascending to an altitude of 3,750 m.

Habit:
A very variable, prickly creeper or climber. The rootstocks are perennial; the roots, long and cylindric with a thin, red bark; the stems, four angled. The leaves are very variable, cordate-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2-8 in a whorl, normally 4,