Shrubs vinelike, climbing, to 20 m. Bark olive green. Stems with axillary spines, pilose or glabrous; branches pendent, often with 5-10 mm, recurved thorns. Petiole 1-1.5 cm; leaf blade ovate to elliptic, 3-10 × 1.5-5(-7) cm, ± leathery, abaxially greenish, adaxially dark green, glabrous, pubescent yellow-brown, lateral veins 4-6 pairs, base cuneate or rotund, apex acute or obtuse. Cymes axillary, yellow-brown pubescent. Pedicel with 3 ovate bracteoles near apex. Flowers unisexual; perianth yellow, fragrant. Male perianth tube funnelform, puberulous, apex 5-lobed, lobes short triangular. Stamens 6-8, exserted; anthers subglobose. Female perianth tube ovate-tubular, apex 5-lobed; style exserted; stigma lacerate. Fruit clavate, 7-14 × 4 mm, 5-ribbed, with rows of stalked glands and brownish black pubescent; carpopodium long. Fl. Jan-Jun.

Thickets along seashores and open forests. Hainan, SE Taiwan [Africa, America, Asia, Australia].