Shrubs monoecious, green, 30-50 cm tall. Branches opposite and decussate or dichotomous, terete; internodes 1.5-3 cm, nodes ± swollen. Leaves opposite; petiole 2-4 mm; leaf blade ovate, obovate to elliptic, sometimes asymmetric, 3-8.5 × 1.5-3.5 cm, leathery, 3-5-veined, base attenuate or narrowly cuneate, apex obtuse. Inflorescences axillary, cymes solitary or some fascicled; peduncle 1-1.5 mm; 3-flowered, central flower female, lateral flowers male and usually absent; involucre navicular, ca. 2 mm. Pedicel absent. Male flowers ovoid in bud, ca. 1.5 mm; perianth lobes 4. Female flower ellipsoid in bud, 2.5-3 mm; perianth lobes 4, triangular, ca. 1 mm. Stigma nipple-shaped. Berry with base narrowed into a ca. 1 mm stalk, body yellowish, subglobose, 4-6 mm in diam., tuberculate, becoming smooth. Fl. and fr. Jan-Dec.

The plants have medicinal uses and are parasitic on Bruguiera sexangula, Castanea mollissima, Citrus grandis, Clausena lansium, Diospyros kaki, Sapindus mukorossi, Sonneratia caseolaris, and Xylosma congestum.

Forests, orchards, mangrove swamps; near sea level-1100 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Yunnan [Bhutan, Cambodia, NE India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam].