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A herb. It is a robust plant with thick juicy stems. It grows 60 cm high. It grows from a creeping rhizome or underground stem. It does not have stinging hairs. The leaves are mostly broadly oval and 8.5 cm long by 7 cm wide. There are long spreading hairs on the veins under the leaves. There are teeth along the edge. The flowers are in half round clusters on long stalks in the axils of leaves. Male and female flowers are separate but usually on the same plant.
Leaves of a pair subequal, 2–6 x 1.5–4.5 cm., broadly ovate to ovate-lanceolate; apex acuminate; base cuneate, obtuse, truncate or rounded, rarely subcordate; margin coarsely serrate, with 7–15(24) teeth on each side, lamina upper surface with scattered stiff hairs and linear cystoliths, lower surface glabrous to densely pubescent, especially on the nerves.
Female heads up to 6 mm. in diam., subsessile or on peduncles up to 5 cm. long; female flowers on pedicels 1–2 mm. long, 3-merous, tepals with appendages as in the male flowers, middle tepal lanceolate, up to 3 mm. long, lateral tepals shorter.
Inflorescences axillary, with up to 4 inflorescences at each node, flowers arranged in pedunculate heads or interrupted spikes, with 2–6 globular heads along the axis of each spike, or with a branched inflorescence axis.
Male heads up to 8( 12) mm. in diam. on peduncles up to 6 cm. long; male flowers on pedicels up to 2 mm. long, 4-merous, with apiculate tepals (sometimes developed into horn-like appendages).
Perennial herbs with short, creeping rhizomes and erect unbranched or little branched juicy stems up to 0.4 m. tall, monoecious.
Stipules brown, membranous, up to 5(8) mm. long, broadly ovate, with a rounded or cordate base, persisting.
Achene compressed ovoid, lanceolate, smooth, shiny, brown, up to 2 mm. long.
Petiole 0.3–5(10) cm. long, usually pubescent.
