Stems clustered or rarely solitary, covered with persistent, fibrous leaf sheaths. Leaves spirally or distichously arranged; sheaths with prominent, fibrous ocreas; petioles rounded in cross section, brown tomentose; rachis tomentose as petiole; pinnae induplicate, narrowed at base, lanceolate, broadly lanceolate, or oblong, deeply to shallowly lobed, with smooth to serrate, undulate margins, blunt at apex, several apical pinnae joined into compound, broad terminal pinna, silvery gray with small, brown dots abaxially, with broad lines of brown tomentum parallel with veins, with 1 prominent main vein and minor veins diverging from base. Plants semelparous; flowering proceeding from top of stem downward (basipetal), rarely in opposite direction (acropetal). Inflorescences pendulous or erect, branched to 1 order, rarely spicate, usually unisexual by suppression of either female or male flowers; peduncular bracts many, persistent, sheathing or not sheathing peduncle, densely brown or black tomentose adaxially; male flowers borne in spirally arranged pairs, or sometimes triads of 2 male flowers flanking a non-functional female flower, subtended by a very small bract; sepals cupular, lobed or not lobed, sometimes lobes briefly imbricate; petals free, valvate; stamens 3-19, linear, basifixed, pistillode absent; female flowers borne singly and spirally, surrounded by 1 small outer bract and 2 inner, broad, imbricate bracts; sepals united into a low, cupular calyx; petals united into a 3-lobed corolla, lobes valvate distally initially, free and spreading after anthesis; staminodes absent. Fruits variously colored, ovoid to ellipsoid or oblong, with apical stigmatic residue; germination remote; eophylls simple.
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