Botany
Kalamitmit is a twining, herbaceous, more or less hairy vine, with slender stems. Leaves are oblong to oblong-ovate, 8 to 12 centimeters long, pointed at the tip and heart-shaped at the base. Inflorescence bears many flowers, and is borne in the axils of the leaves. Sepals are about 6 millimeters long. Corolla is white or yellow, tubular and funnel-shaped, about 3 centimeters long; limb is about 2.5 centimeters in diameter. Capsule is ovoid, smooth, about 1 centimeter long. Seeds are covered with spreading, black or brown hairs.

Distribution
Throughout the Philippines, in thickets at medium altitudes.
Pantropic.

Properties
Plant considered deobstruent, diuretic and alterative.

Parts used
Root, leaves, seeds.

Uses
Edibility
- Young leaves may be mixed with other vegetables and eaten.
Folkloric
- Pounded leaves used as poultice for burns and scalds.
- In the Moluccas, poultice of leaves used for sores. Also leaves used as emollient for abscesses and ulcers.
- Decoction of plant used as deobstruent, diuretic and alterative; useful for rheumatism, headaches and neuralgia. Also used for dropping into the ears in cases of auricular ulcers and abscesses.
- In epilepsy, powder of leaves is sniffed up.
- Paste or powder of root, mixed with Java flour and water, applied to swellings.
- In Bengal, seeds are soaked in water to yield a mucilage and used as an aperient or as alterative for cutaneous diseases.

Studies
• Phenolic Compounds / Allelochemical: Study investigated the potential allelochemicals of the invasive plant Merremia umbellata subsp. orientalis. Results yielded eight phenolic compounds, including a salicylic acid (SA)-derived new natural product, SA 2-O- β-D-(3',6'-dicaffeoyl)-glucopyranoside. Compound 2 showed remarkable inhibition of seed germination of Arabidopsis.

Availability
Wild-crafted.