Subshrubs dioecious, 15-50 cm tall. Branching apical, beneath inflorescence, usually dichotomous, terete; internodes (3-)6-11 cm, branchlets slender. Leaves opposite, subsessile, scale-like; leaf blade linear, 2-5 × 0.1-0.4 cm, leathery, veins indistinct, base attenuate, apex obtuse. Inflorescences terminal. Male inflorescences cymes, usually 3-flowered; peduncle ± absent. Female inflorescences cymose spikes; peduncle 2-4 mm; 3-5-flowered, terminal flower with 2 bracts or not, lateral flowers each with 1 bract; bracts triangular, ca. 2 mm. Male flowers subglobose in bud, ca. 3 mm; perianth lobes 4. Female flowers ellipsoid in bud, ca. 1.5 mm; perianth lobes 4, ca. 1 mm. Berry greenish, ovoid, 4.5-5 × ca. 4 mm, smooth. Fl. Jun-Sep, fr. Jul-Oct.

The plants are parasitic on Crataegus wilsonii, Populus davidiana, Ulmus pumila, and species of Salix.

* Forests, mountain slopes, valleys; 1300-2800 m. S Gansu, E Qinghai, S Shaanxi, S Shanxi, Sichuan.