A climbing perennial plant with a very thick and juicy taproot, up to 1 meter long, brown on the outside and white inside. The leaves are heart-shaped with arcuate venation. The flowers are small, unisexual, and greenish-yellow; staminate flowers are in long branched racemes, while pistillate flowers are in short, unbranched racemes. The fruit is a red berry (in contrast to Dioscorea).
Tamus grows abundantly in forests and bushes in the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, and Crimea. The roots contain saponins. They are used by the people of the Caucasus in the form of a vodka tincture for rubbing on joint pain and sciatica. Histamine-like substances and numerous raphides cause skin irritation. The root tincture is included in the composition of the «Akofit» product.
Harvesters often mistakenly confuse Tamus roots with those of the similar-looking Bryonia, which grows nearby. However, Bryonia roots do not contain raphides of oxalate.