Small trees or shrubs, evergreen, dioecious. Leaves alternate, strongly trinerved or triplinerved. Pseudoumbels 1-flowered, a few together along a slender leafless short shoot with terminal bud, not developing into a leafy shoot after anthesis, each pseudo-umbel with 1 bract and 2 involucral bracts; peduncle subsessile or sessile. Flowers unisexual or polygamous. Perianth tube very short; perianth segments 6, subequal. Stamens 6-9; filaments of 1st and 2nd whorls eglandular but those of 3rd whorl or sometimes also of 2nd whorl 2-glandular; glands always orbicular-reniform and subsessile; anthers 2-celled; cells introrse. Ovary ovoid or subglobose; style terete; stigma slightly dilated, peltate or 3-fid. Fruits drupelike; perianth cup discoid.

This genus, closely related to Lindera, is characterized by the 1-flowered pseudoumbels and 2-celled anthers. It may be an unnatural group if the reduction of multi-flowered pseudoumbels to 1-flowered pseudoumbels in Lindera has taken place more than once. Moreover, Iteadaphne confusa Blume, nom. illeg. superfl. (the type of Iteadaphne), with its opposite or subopposite, pinnately veined leaves, is perhaps not closely related to I. caudata and (from Vietnam) L. spicata Kostermans, which have alternate, trinerved or triplinerved leaves. See van der Werff (Blumea 46: 137. 2001).

Three species: China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam; one species in China.

(Authors: Li Xiwen (李锡文 Li Hsi-wen), Li Jie (李捷); Henk van der Werff)