Appearance
It reaches a height of several metres on trees and cover the branches with thick foliage. It is commonly found in forest floor, rocky hillslopes. It flowers once a year to produce seeds. It can also be propagated by roots. The plant has a number of historical medicinal uses.Defense
This plant contains aristolochic acid, a carcinogen also found in various "Aristolochia" and "Asarum" plants, both in the family Aristolochiaceae. Aristolochic acid is composed of an about 1:1 mixture of two forms, aristolochic acid I and aristolochic acid II.In addition to its carcinogenicity, aristolochic acid is also highly nephrotoxic and may be a causative agent in Balkan nephropathy. However, despite these well-documented dangers, aristolochic acid still is present sometimes in herbal remedies, primarily because of substitution of innocuous herbs with "Aristolochia" species. The alcoholic extract is more toxic than the water extract.
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