Monoecious liana or climbing shrub, to 2 (5) m tall; most parts densely hirsute. Leaves alternate; petioles less than 1 cm long; stipules paired, lanceolate, 3-10 mm long, persistent; blades oblong-lanceolate to oblong, acuminate, rounded to subcordate and inequilateral at base, 2-12 (15) cm long, 1.5-4.5 (5) cm wide, scabrous above with dense punctiform cystoliths. Flowers minute, white or greenish, in small, globular, androgynous (bisexual with staminate flowers at apex) or unisexual clusters; staminate flowers 4-parted; pistillate perianth tubular, 2- or 4-toothed, strongly veined. Achenes ovoid-ellipsoid, acute at apex, 2-4 mm diam, light brown and shiny. Croat 11773. Occasional, along the shore. Flowers and fruits during the rainy season. Guatemala to Venezuela and Peru. In Panama, known from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone, Bocas del Toro, San Blas, Coclé, and Panamá.