Brotowali is one of Indonesia's traditional medicinal plants. It originates from Southeast Asia, including Indo-China, the Malay Peninsula, the Philippines, and Indonesia. This medicinal plant is highly popular in Southeast Asia. Traditionally, it is widely used as a herbal medicine (jamu) with numerous benefits.

Brotowali prefers open and hot places (requiring lots of sunlight). It can grow in the lowlands up to the highlands (1,700 m a.s.l.)  with temperatures of 20–28ºC and an annual rainfall of 1,500–3,000 mm/year.

• The root is a taproot.

• The stem has soft, pseudo-thorns resembling nodules, is creeping/climbing, contains water, and tastes bitter.

• The leaves are single (simple), heart-shaped, with a pointed tip, palmate venation, and are scattered.

• The flowers are compound (inflorescence), orange, located on the stem, with three ovate sepals and six petals.

• The fruit forms in bunches (racemes) and is pink in color.

• Propagation is done both generatively (by seed) and vegetatively (by stem cuttings).

• Planting is done in the growing media first until roots are formed

It is an appetite enhancer, treats rheumatism, arthritis, hip joint rheumatism (sciatica), bruises, fever, yellow fever (jaundice), sores, scabies, and wounds. It is also an analgesic, antipyretic, antihypertensive, antimalarial, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, tonic, antiperiodic, and treats hepatitis.

Alkaloids, glycosides, picroretoside, resin (harsa), the bitter substance picroretin, tinocrisposide, berberine, palmatine, columbine, caoculin, or picrotoxin.