[3] Common names include gnetum, joint fir, two leaf, melinjo/belinjo (Indonesian), bago/lumbay (Filipino), and tulip (Tok Pisin).

It is a small to medium-size tree (unlike most other Gnetum species, which are lianas), growing to 15–22 metres tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 40 cm (16 in).

The young leaves, flowers, and the outer flesh of the fruits are also edible when cooked and are eaten in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Fiji.

The seeds are used for sayur asem (sour vegetable soup) and also, made into raw chips that later need to be deep-fried as crackers (emping, a type of krupuk).

Its male strobili, young leaves and female strobilus are used as ingredients in traditional vegetable curry called kuah pliek.

Four new stilbene oligomers, gnemonol G, H, I and J, were isolated from acetone extract of the root of Gnetum gnemon along with five known stilbenoids, ampelopsin E, cis-ampelopsin E, gnetin C, D and E.[11] The extraction of dried leaf of Gnetum gnemon with acetone water (1:1) gave C-glycosylflavones (isovitexin, vicenin II, isoswertisin, swertisin, swertiajaponin, isoswertiajaponin).