Scandent herb to 1–2 m from tuberous rootstock; stems distinctly spreading-hairy. Leaf-blade broadly ovate, cordate, sinuate-dentate, hispid or pubescent, 2.5–10.5 x 3–13 cm, usually palmately 3–5-lobed, lobes obovate, triangular or elliptic, sometimes lobulate; petiole 2–11 cm long. Tendrils usually bifid. Monoecious. Male flowers up to 30 in pedunculate racemes. Pedicels 2–11 mm long. Hypanthium campanulate, 2.5–3 mm long. Sepals lanceolate, attenuate, 4–5 mm long. Petals pale green to yellow, 3.5–5 mm long. Female flowers solitary, shortly pedicellate. Ovary narrowing at both ends, shortly hairy, 9–20 mm long. Fruit conical or narrowing at both ends, ± truncate at the base, rostrate, green or green with paler spots, orange to scarlet when ripe, c. 5–7.5 x 2 cm, glabrous, many-seeded, dehiscent by a longitudinal slit; pedicel 0.5–2 cm long. Seeds subglobose, smooth, bordered, 3.5–5 mm long.
