Vines to 12 m, usually thin and weak; bark pale or grayish brown, lenticels usually relatively conspicuous. Petiole 5-8 (-10) mm; leaf blade elliptic to narrowly so, or obovate, 2.5-10(-13) × 1.5-5 cm, leathery, lateral veins 5-8(-11) on each side, base cuneate to subrounded, apex acute or attenuate, sometimes obtuse. Male inflorescences simple or once branched, branches ternate or in 2 pairs; peduncle slender, 0.5-1.5 cm; male spikes 0.8-1.2(-1.5) cm × 2-3 mm, involucral collars 5-10(-12), each collar with 40-70 flowers plus 10-12 sterile female flowers, basal hairs few, brown, short. Female inflorescences usually borne on old branches, once branched, rarely simple, 10-15 cm in fruit, axis 2-3 mm thick; peduncle 1.5-2 cm; female spikes with involucral collars 6-9 mm apart, nodes each with 5-8 female flowers, basal hairs brown, short. Seeds sessile or nearly so, red, elongate ellipsoid or fusiform to narrowly oblong-obovoid, (1.3-)1.6-2.2 cm × (4-)5-8(-10) mm, 2-3.2 × as long as wide, apex usually with a small, pointed head, outer coat thin, longitudinally striate when dried. Pollination Apr-Jul, seed maturity Jul-Nov.
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A coarse woody vine which grows up to 12 m long. It is usually thin and weak. The bark is pale or greyish brown. A coarse woody vine with large opposite leaves. The leaf stalk is 5-8 (-10) mm long and the leaf blade is like a narrow ellipse, or oval. The leaves are pointed at the tip and rounded at the base. They are 10 to 22 cm long by 2-5 cm wide. The leaves are leathery with 5-8 (-11) lateral veins on each side. Male flower stalks are simple or once branched. There are 40-70 flowers on a collar and there are 5-10 collars on a flower stalk. There are also some infertile female flowers. The female flower stalk is on old branches and branches once. These flower groups are 10-15 cm long. The fruit occurs in rings. The fruit are red, long and oval. They only have very short stalks. They can be 3 cm long and 1 cm wide. The seeds are black. Each fruit contains a single nut.
Forests at elevations of 100-1,000 metres in southern China. Moist, shady tropical and subtropical forests at elevations up to 1,000 metres. It has been found in thickets on sandy soil and also along the sides of streams.
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A tropical plant. They occur in forests between 100 and 1,000 m altitude in China and Vietnam. They are common and widely distributed in the forests of the Philippines. In Yunnan.
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