Subshrubs glabrous, monoecious or dioecious. Stems green when dry, erect, ascending, or climbing, terete, to 200 cm tall, woody at base, usually with galls on mid portion of internodes; stems, stipules, petioles, and leaves densely covered with cystoliths. Stipules caducous, green, oblong, 13-23 mm, papery, longitudinally 2-ribbed; petiole unequal in length, (0.5-)2-7 cm; leaf blade elliptic-or ovate-lanceolate, unequal in size, (3-)10-22 × (1.3-)4-6.5 cm, papery, 3-veined, lateral veins 8-10 each side, transverse, external secondary veins indistinctly anastomosing by margin, cystoliths conspicuous, base slightly oblique, broadly cuneate or rounded, margin serrulate or obscurely serrulate, apex acute to caudate-acuminate. Inflorescences in pairs, of mixed sexes; male inflorescence a cymose panicle or few branched, interrupted spike; peduncle to 4.5 cm; female inflorescence a cyme. Male flowers pedicellate, in bud obovoid, ca. 1.5 mm; perianth lobes (3 or)4, cymbiform, connate about 1/2 of length, subapically corniculate, persistent perianth lobes 0.5-0.7 mm, 1/2 as long as achene; stamens (3 or)4; rudimentary ovary conic. Female flowers subsessile; perianth lobes dimorphic; staminodes oblong. Achene asymmetrically ovoid, ca. 1.3 mm, compressed. Fl. May-Jul, fr. Aug-Oct.
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