Diplanthera Thouars (1806), not Gleditsch (1764).

Rhizomes branched, rooting at nodes. Shoots erect, with 2 scales at base. Leaves 1-4, alternate, flattened, linear, 3-veined, margin toothed at apex; sheaths compressed, auriculate, ligulate. Flowers solitary and terminal, enclosed in a leaf. Male flowers consisting of 2 unequally inserted anthers, without filament; pollen filiform. Female flowers subsessile; style simple. Fruitlet laterally subcompressed, with bony pericarp, beaked.

About seven species: throughout most tropical regions; two species in China.