Large climber, rootstock tuberous lobed; stem terete, stout, twinning to the left, more or less prickly, deciduously golden hairy; leaves 3-foliolate, petiolulate, glabrous or puberulous beneath, middle lobe elliptic-oblong or obovate, acute or acuminate at apex, lateral leaflets smaller, very oblique, 5-6 costate; petioles very long; flowers minute, spicate or in racemes, rarely bisexual; male spikes axillary, in pendulous panicles, pubescent or woolly; bracts very short; sepals orbicular to ovate, membranous, shorter than incurved coriaceous petals; stamens 6, anthers subsessile; pistallode absent; female spikes slitary or fascicled, female flowers smaller than males; perianth as in males but smaller; staminodes 3-6 or zero; ovary 3-celled, styles-3, very short, stigma entire or 2-fid, recurved; capsules 3-lobed, oblong, 3-winged; seeds globose or flat, usually winged at base.