Attaching by
adventitious roots, its stems are up to 10 cm in diameter, are occasionally armed with stinging hairs and exude copious and clear potable sap when cut. Bark is grey to brownish-black and longitudinally striate with large leaf scars on young branches. Pith is spongy, or stems are hollow in centre. Leaves are simple and with drip tips, elliptic to ovate with entire margins, and spirally arranged. Leaves are strongly 3-veined at the base, have 2–4 pairs of lateral nerves, the basal pair extending into upper third of the leaf. Flowers are small, greenish-white in colour and in lax axillary
cymes. Inflorescences on male plants are
paniculate, some 6.5 cm long, with dense clusters of flowers at intervals along the stalks. The female inflorescence is also lax and paniculate, about 2 cm long, with a small cymose cluster of flowers. Fruit is a small nut or
achene, glabrous, 1.5–2 mm long, enclosed in persistent, fleshy, orange/red
perianth lobes. ==Uses and species associations==