The plant grows throughout India, in hilly districts upto 3500 meters height. It is a perennial, herbaceous climber. The stems are often long, rough and grooved, with woody base. The leaves often in whorls of four.
They are 5-10 cm long, variable, cordate – ovate to cordate-lanceolate, rough above and smooth beneath. The flowers, 0.3-2.5 cm long, blackish or greenish black, in terminal panicled glabrous cymes.
The fruits are globose, fleshy, smooth, purplish black when ripe and shining.
The roots are 4-8 cm long, reddish, cylindrical, flexuous, with a thin red bark. Manjistin, garancin, orange red alizarin, Anthroquinones pentacyclic triterpenes, quinines, cyclic hexapeptides and diethylesters are the reported constituents.