Dioecious or polygamo-dioecious; fls 5-merous, the staminate with 5 stamens about as long as the pet, inserted on the margin of the cup-shaped disk, and with a vestigial pistil, the pistillate with vestigial stamens and a well developed ovary, stout columnar style, and 3-lobed stigma; ovules 2 per locule, collateral; fr 3-valved, each valve covering 1 or 2 seeds completely enclosed in a fleshy red aril; woody twiners with deciduous, alternate, serrulate lvs and small whitish or greenish fls. 30, mostly trop.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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