This dioecious member of the Cucurbitaceae family was given this name by Cornelis Gijsbert Gerrit Jan van Steenis in 1955. It is found on the Lesser Sunda Islands in the southern part of Indonesia, where it climbs the trees. The ground is a thin layer of peat with clay underneath. They get lots of water but only some sun. The vines will grow to three meters, the lower part of the stem to ten centimetres in diameter and one meter high. The flowers are greenish to yellow, the males in clusters, the female sits one by one.

The genera name from Greek neos, 'new' and Alsomitra, another genera in the Cucurbitaceae. The species name for its swollen root.