Lianas, woody, usually densely rust-colored hairy. Leaves opposite, rarely subopposite, petiolate, entire, papery, with pinnate veins, with tendrils between leaf pairs. Plants dioecious. Cymose panicles axillary or extra-axillary. Flowers small; pedicel jointed. Staminate flowers: calyx cupular, 5-toothed; corolla deeply (3 or)4- or 5-lobed, coherent at base, outside densely hairy; stamens 3-5, alternate with corolla lobes; filaments broad, short, rarely absent; reduced ovary small or absent. Pistillate flowers: calyx as in staminate flowers, persistent; corolla 4- or 5-lobed, base tubular and often inflated; reduced stamens absent; ovary sessile or with short pedicel, 1-loculed; ovules 2, pendulous from apex; stigma thick, peltate, apex concave, sometimes slightly oblique. Drupe obliquely obovoid, with persistent calyx; exocarp thinly crustaceous; mesocarp thin; endocarp outside reticulate polygonous concave. Seeds with fleshy endosperm; cotyledons flat, leafy.

About 19 species: Africa, tropical Asia (nine species); four species (one endemic) in China.