Climbers, woody, large. Stem and branches stout. Tendrils robust, 2-5-fid. Plants dioecious. Male flowers in a raceme; calyx tube elongate, campanulate; segments short; corolla rotate, 5-partite, lobes connate at base; segments obcuneate, apex truncate, very long fimbriate; stamens 3; filaments inconspicuous; anthers connate, linear, one 1-celled, two 2-celled; anther cells conduplicate. Female flowers solitary; calyx and corolla as in male flowers; ovary globose, 1-locular; ovules 12, horizontal; placentae 3, parietal with pairs of ovules attached on each side; style long; stigma 3-lobed; lobes 2-fid, exserted. Fruit large, depressed, 12-grooved. Perfect seeds usually 6, each having a rudimentary or barren seed attached to its side. Seeds large, flat, ellipsoid.

Two species: tropical Asia; one species in China. Hodgsonia macrocarpa in Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae was based on misidentifications; H. macrocarpa occurs from southern Thailand to Borneo, Sumatra and western Java (see Blumea 46: 169-179. 2001)

(Authors: Lu Anmin (路安民 Lu An-ming); Charles Jeffrey)