Natal Mikania

Mikania natalensis, the Natal mikania, is a plant of the daisy family, Asteraceae, native to Africa. It is a herbaceous, vigorous perennial climber with opposite, well-spaced leaves that are triangular and long-pointed, velvety grey beneath and thinly hairy above. The flowers are about ten millimetres long and cream-coloured with purplish anthers. It is found on forest margins from the Eastern Cape of South Africa to tropical Africa. Wikipedia says it looks superficially like Chromolaena odorata, an alien invader species in its natural habitat, and that a butterfly considered as a biological control for that invader was not released because its larvae were found to eat the leaves of Mikania natalensis. The article says it is used in traditional Zulu and Swazi medicine for urinary complaints, headaches, backache and colds.