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Plants to ca. 1.5 m in diam. Stems slightly ridged, becoming terete; epicortical roots present at least when young, brownish, bearing conspicuous secondary haustoria; primary haustorium becoming large, often fusing with adjacent secondary haustoria in age. Leaves sessile or with short, indistinct petiole; blade mostly obovate with rounded apex. Male inflorescence a racemose catkin with caducous scales, terminal leaves absent. Female inflorescence spicate, flowers with semi-inferior ovary, tip of inflorescence with minute leaves which may later expand and become foliaceous; style short, stigma capitate to cristate; female inflorescence usually elongating after anthesis. Fruit grey-green to whitish or yellowish, ca. 0.4 cm long.
A densely branched shrub, glabrous, the branches generally to 50 cm. long, terete or nearly so. Leaves almost sessile, or the petioles very short and thick, obovate to suborbicular, cuneate at the base, the nerves very prominent and openly reticulate, coriaceous, 3-7 cm. long, 2-3 cm. wide. Flowers cream-colored, the Perianth segments slightly dentate. The bractlets fall when the flowers open. Fruit oval.
