Monoecious, parasitic shrub; stems terete, branched, green when fresh (drying rugose with a yellowish cast), a pair of cataphylls on almost every internode, the lower internodes usually with 2-5 pairs of cataphylls. Petioles less than 5 mm long; blades obliquely ovate, bluntly acuminate, +/- cuneate at base, 6-13 cm long, 2.5-5.5 cm wide, coriaceous, green when fresh, drying rugose and brownish to almost black if young, glabrous, often marginally crisped, the veins lacking or obscurely pinnate on underside. Inflorescences of axillary, jointed spikes 2.5-4.5 cm long, the spikes 4-6 (8) per node, the joints 4-6 per spike, each subtended by two small, perfoliate bracts to 2 mm long; peduncles obscure or lacking; flowers unisexual, yellow, generally 12-20 per joint, 4-ranked, minute; tepals 3. Fruits attached from depressions in the rachis, ellipsoid, ca 4 mm long when mature, pale yellow to orange-brown. Croat 8408. Occasional, in open areas and along the shore. Flowers and fruits from January to August. See Fig. 212.