Herbs, perennial, erect (or rarely ?climbing), with rhizomatous base; stems to 1 m, quadrangular to subterete, sometimes shallowly ribbed and/or sulcate, glabrous or puberulent near nodes, smooth or sometimes sparsely retrorsely aculeolate. Leaves in whorls of 4; petiole equal to unequal, 0.5-1.5(-3) cm; blade drying thickly papery to subleathery, broadly lanceolate, oblong-ovate, or ovate, 3-10 × 1.7-4 cm, length/breadth index 1.5-2.5, glabrous or usually hispidulous along principal veins and scaberulous on lamina, base obtuse to rounded or cordulate, margins thinly revolute and smooth to scaberulous, apex acuminate or subacute; principal veins 3 or 5, palmate, plane to impressed adaxially. Inflorescences thyrsoid-paniculate, cymes 5-12 cm, many flowered, terminal and from uppermost stem axils; peduncles scaberulous, puberulent, or glabrescent; bracteoles lanceolate, 3-4 mm, ciliate; pedicels 1-6 mm. Ovary ca. 1 mm, glabrous. Corolla white or greenish yellow, somewhat campanulate, 4-5 mm in diam., outside glabrous, inside puberulent to scaberulous, fused base 0.8-1 mm; lobes lanceolate, 2-2.2 mm, acute to acuminate. Mericarp berry black, 5-7 mm in diam. Fl. May-Jul, Nov, fr. Aug-Oct.
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