Lianas; stems with 4 phloem arms in cross section, the pith large; branch-lets terete, without interpetiolar glandular fields, with a conspicuously swollen interpetiolar ridge, this less pronounced but still present when dried; pseudo-stipules absent. Leaves 2-foliolate, often with a trifid tendril, the tendril arms somewhat flexuous. Inflorescence an axillary raceme. Flowers with the calyx tubular-campanulate, bilabiate or sometimes irregularly 3-4-labiate; corolla deep wine-colored, tubular-campanulate above a narrow tubular base, glabrous to inconspicuously lepidote outside; anthers glabrous, the thecae straight, divari-cate; pollen grains single, 3-colpate, the exine finely reticulate; ovary linear-cylindric, sparsely lepidote or puberulous, the ovules (2-) 4-seriate in each locule. Fruit a strongly compressed linear capsule, the valves parallel to the septum, thin, smooth, the median nerve indistinct; seeds thin, bialate, the wings poorly demarcated, membranaceous, mostly pale brown, lighter at the tips.
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