Herbs , perennial, deciduous, 2-6 dm, glabrous to sparsely pubescent. Rhizomes short to elongate, formed of distinct annual increments, producing 1 leaf or flowering shoot per year. Aerial stems present. Leaves simple, variously parted. Leaves of nonflowering shoot 1, basal; petiole centrally attached, erect, stemlike, blade orbiculate, peltate. Leaves of flowering shoots (0-)2(-3), cauline, alternate or nearly opposite; petiole attached near margin, blade reniform-orbiculate, peltate. Leaf blades 10-38 cm, parts entire or lobed, margins entire or serrate; venation palmate. Inflorescences terminal, flowers solitary. Flowers 3-merous, 30-55 mm; bracteoles absent; sepals caducous, 6, white or pale green; petals 6-9, white or pink; stamens equal to or 2 times number of petals; anthers dehiscing longitudinally; pollen exine finely reticulate to verrucate; ovaries ellipsoid; placentation marginal; style central. Fruits berries, yellow, orange, red, or maroon, ellipsoid. Seeds 20-50, yellow, orange, red, or maroon; aril yellow, rarely maroon, fleshy, enclosing seed. x = 6.
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Sep 6, biseriate, falling early; pet 6 or 9, 2-or 3-seriate; stamens twice as many as the pet; anthers opening by longitudinal slits; ovary thick-ovoid, with a large, sessile stigma; fr a large, ovoid, fleshy, many-seeded berry; perennial herbs from a rhizome, usually colonial, the flowering stem with a pair of lvs and a short-peduncled, solitary terminal fl. 10, N. Hemisphere.
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