Travelers Joy is a perennial climber, over bushes, and often simply trailing in the grass. The stems are hairy when young, but become fluted and wiry when old. The leaves are compound and opposite. The plant climbs by means of its petioles, which on coming in contact with some support, soon make one or two coils around it. The inflorencences are shorter than the leaves. The sweetly-scented flowers are borne in great profusion and present a common sight in autumn, along the roadsides. The colour of the flowers range from cream-coloured to white; they are without any petals, but have four crown-shaped sepals with a powderbrush of stamens. The seeds are greenish brown in colour and each bears a persistent feathery style, by means of which it is wind-dispersed. The masses of fruit of the Travellers Joy are feathery in appearance. Flowering: January-April.
Medicinal uses: The name traveller's joy must have come about because of all its wonderful medicinal properties that were useful to the traveller in days gone by when they stuffed the leaves into their shoes to ease blisters, aches & pains. It’s still used to soothe muscles, by boiling up a strong brew from the leaves and adding it to your bath water.