Plants shrubby, suberect to subscandent. Stem branched, terete, 0.5--3 m, scarcely or sparsely prickly. Petiole 4--5(--15) mm, broadly winged for all its length; wings ± shell-shaped, 3--5 mm wide; abscission zone apical; tendrils sometimes present. Leaf blade abaxially glaucous, usually subelliptic, 4--10(--20) × 2--5(--10) cm, base cordate. Inflorescence borne in axil of rather young leaf on new branchlets, of 1 umbel, basally not prophyllate; peduncle 1--4 cm; umbels of both sexes several flowered, base slightly thickened, sometimes elongate; bracteoles small. Male flowers: tepals yellowish green, ca. 4 × 1--1.8 mm. Female flowers: tepals slightly smaller than male ones; staminodes 3. Berries black, globose, 6--8 mm in diam., white powdery. Fl. Apr--May, fr. Oct.

* Forests, thickets, shaded places on slopes; 600--2100 m. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, ?Zhejiang.