Habit: Merremia aegyptia grows as a climbing perennial herbaceous vine to 5 m in length covered with long, odiferous pubescence. The leaves are arranged alternately. The leaf blade is palmately compound with 5 sessile, elliptic leaflets each to 9 cm in length and 4 cm wide. with an entire or dentate margin and acuminate apex.
The complete, perfect, actinomorphic flowers solitary or in few flowered cymes. The calyx has 5 unfused oblong, long pubescent sepals. The corolla has 5 fused, salverform, petals that are white. There are 5 stamens fused to the throat of the corolla tube. The ovary is superior with 2 locules and numerous seeds. The fruit is a capsule at maturity.
Habitat: Merremia aegyptia grows in Human Altered environments (roadsides, abandoned fields, waste areas).
Distribution: Merremia aegyptia is NOT native to the Lucayan Archipelago but does occur on the northern island groupings. It is native to the larger Caribbean region, Central and South America and tropical Africa.
Medicinal/Cultural/Economic usage Merremia aegyptia is not used medicinally in the Bahamas.