A slender perennial herb arising from many slender curved rhizomes, of damp ground and cultivated land, throughout from Senegal to N and S Nigeria, and widespread in tropical Africa.The plant becomes a pest of lawns in Ghana and is difficult to eradicate (1). The Ijo of the Niger Delta have medicinal uses. For cuts and wounds, the stem is chewed into a quid which is bandaged over the place and left for 3 days; this is replaced by a new quid till the place has healed. For gonorrhoea (tu bẹịmọ ọgị̀) the rhizome is washed and pounded in a mortar with some honey; a part of the preparation is drunk, and a part is rubbed around the waist (2).