Subshrubs or herbs, usually epiparasitic on the stems of species of Loranthaceae and Dendrotrophe. Leaves alternate, reduced to rudimentary scales. Inflorescences axillary, 1-flowered or densely clustered. Flowers bisexual or unisexual (plants dioecious, monoecious, or polygamous), sessile, minute. Male flowers: perianth tube short, lobes 3-6, valvate. Stamens as many as and opposite to perianth lobes; filaments short, compressed; anthers cordate, 2-celled, dehiscence longitudinal. Discs flat or slightly conic. Female flowers: lobes 4-8, valvate. Ovary inferior, 1-loculed; ovules 2 or 3. Bisexual flowers similar to female ones, except with stamens. Fruit a drupe, ellipsoid, with persistent lobes and discs at apex, exocarp fleshy, endocarp bony, 5-or 6-furrowed. Seed 1; endosperm copious; embryo small.
Home