Stems slender, clustered, spreading by rhizomes to form small to large clumps, covered, especially in upper part, with fibrous, persistent leaf bases, otherwise green. Leaves 12-22, palmate; leaf sheaths fibrous, consisting of 2 layers of fibers, forming a square or diagonal mesh, with fibrous ligules at apices; hastula present; segments few to many, split to 1/2 or more their length, with minute spines along margins. Plants dioecious. Inflorescences branched to 3 orders, borne among leaves, covered with persistent bracts, these closely or loosely sheathing, bearing either all male or all female flowers, occasionally bisexual; flowers simple in structure, borne singly, male flowers with 6 stamens. Fruits variously colored, small, globose to ellipsoid or ovoid, usually 1-seeded, sometimes borne on short stalks; endosperm homogeneous; germination remote; eophylls undivided.

Eleven species: China, Indonesia (Sumatra), Laos, Thailand, Vietnam; five species (two endemic) in China.