The species' common name derives from the appearance of its small, rounded red fruits, and the rough half-moon shape of its seeds.

[4] Nephroia carolina is a climbing woody vine reaching 5 meters (16 ft) or more.

Each fruit has a single seed that resembles a small snail shell, protected by the hard endocarp or the inner section of the ovary wall.

Admiring its scarlet fruits, landscapers sometimes allow it to grow on trellises, fences or let it naturally spread among other weeds and shrubs.

[9] Through photochemical analysis using spectral and mixed-melting comparison, the stems and leaves of Nephroia carolina were found to contain the following compounds: two cyclitols, (+)quercitol and (−)viburnitol; a lactone, loliolide; and three alkaloids, sinoacutine, magnoflorine, and palmatine.