Woody climbing shrub or liana, up to 10 m with rather blunt straight or hook-like thorns on the stems to aid climbing. Leaves opposite, up to c. 18 × 10 cm, one leaf in a pair often larger than the other, elliptic-oblong to slightly ovate, hairless when mature, sometimes with dense hairs on the midrib below, 3-veined from the base, veins and midrib indented above, 3-4 pairs of lateral veins curving back onto each other to form a sub-marginal vein; margin usually entire, sometimes with 1-4 teeth on each side. Flowers in terminal heads, white, fragrant, showy but short-lived. Corolla tube slender, 3.5-5 cm long; anthers usually dark purple. Fruit glossy dark green, 4 lobed, 10-12 mm long, surrounded by the greenish or purple-red calyx lobes.