Staminate fls with 4 sep, stamens 4, opposite the sep, long- exsert, with very stout filaments; pistillate fls with 4 or more sep; ovary bi- or tricarpellate, with 4 or 6 uniovulate locelli; fr capsular or baccate, lobed; suffrutescent plants with long rhizomes, the ±evergreen, alternate lvs mostly crowded toward the summit of the erect or ascending stems, the fls in spikes, a few at the base pistillate, the upper all staminate. 4, the others in e. Asia.

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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