Region: east Asia, China (Yunnan), India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam
Habitat: sunny places, mixed deciduous and dry evergreen forests, on slopes and along riverbanks; in forest clearings, secondary forest and thickets; sandy, laterite and clay soils, limestone; elevations from 200 - 2,000 metres.
Content: triglyceride oils; 1% rotenone.
Use: food, medicine; source of materials; seeds for cooking; leaves and stems are boiled; bark for rope; red gum, resembles kino, an astringent gum, rich in tannins, for tannin and dye; glass-like, hardened resin appears on the wounds of some seedpods; seed for oil, cosmetic preparations, hair conditioner
BotanyLarge climbing plant; 25 metres or more tall.
Stem: fluted; 30 - 40 cm in diameter.