This plant is native to Southeast Asia, specifically Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. It is often used as a health food, consumed either as a fresh side dish (lalapan) or in the form of capsules or tea, as is done in Thailand where its leaves are consumed as a vegetable. Traditionally, this plant is also used by the community as a medicinal plant for the prevention or treatment of various diseases.

This plant grows well in areas at an altitude of 1–1,200 m a.s.l., in temperate to wet lowlands with an annual rainfall of 1,500–3,500 mm/year. The air temperature is 25–32ºC, air humidity is 70–90%, and it requires high sun intensity. It prefers land that is not too open or is 25% shaded, with soil types like regosol and andosol. It is often found growing in ditches, house fences, forest edges, and grasslands.

• The root system is fibrous.

• The stem is soft, round in cross-section, and greenish-purple in color.

• The leaves are simple, ovate (egg-shaped), with pinnate venation, green in color, slightly wavy margins, and pointed tips and bases. The leaf length is 15 cm, width is 7 cm, it has a petiole (leaf stalk), and the arrangement is alternate.

• Propagation is done vegetatively (by stem cuttings, root suckers, and tubers).

• The suggested planting hole depth is 6–8 cm, with a planting distance of 50 cm×75 cm.

• Leaf harvesting is done after the plant is 1–2 months old after planting, while tuber harvesting is done after 4–5 months after planting.

• It has antioxidant, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activity.

• It is used to treat kidney disease, stop bleeding, neutralize poison from venomous animal bites, reduce fever, gout, and boils.

The plant contains compounds from the groups of glycosides, flavonoids, essential oils, saponins, tannins, triterpenoids, polyphenols, steroids, and alkaloids.