Description from Flora of China
Shrubs parasitic, glabrous. Leaves opposite or subopposite, pinnately veined. Inflorescences axillary or terminal, spikes of flowers sessile, inserted in slight hollows on the rachis; 1 bract subtending each flower. Flowers bisexual or unisexual (plants dioecious), 5- or 6-merous, actinomorphic. Calyx usually ovoid, limb annular, persistent. Mature flower bud clavate or obovoid, straight. Corolla greenish, yellowish, or white, petals free, small, under 10 mm in mature bud, patent and spreading. Stamens inserted on the petals; anthers 2-4-loculed, ovoid or biglobose, sometimes absent. Pollen grain semiangular in polar view. Ovary 1-loculed; placentation basal. Style subcylindric; stigma capitate or truncate. Berry ovoid or subglobose, smooth.
About ten species: temperate and subtropical regions of Asia and Europe; six species (three endemic) in China.