2n = 62

Woody but brittle perennial climber attached by roots to trunks of forest trees or in large masses on ground. Stems c. 4 cm. diam., branched, marked with scars of old lvs. Lvs ± tufted towards ends of stems, spirally arranged, to c. 150 × 2–2.5 cm.; sheathing bases pale; tips long-attenuate, triangular in T.S.; margins, and midrib abaxially, minutely and distantly spinulose. Spadices simple and solitary in axils of several ± foliaceous bracts at stem apex; bracts thick and succulent towards base, white to purplish. Peduncle 1–4 cm. long, glab., whitish; spadix at fl. c. 7 × 1.5 cm., cylindrical or slightly flattened, the axis quite hidden by tightly packed fls. ♂ of several stamens each with a long filament, ovate anther and cop. ± confluent pollen surrounding a small rudimentary ovary; limits of individual fls not easily determined. ♀ with 6–12 purplish staminodes at base of flattened, vertically elongated ovary c. 2–4 × 1 mm. × 2 mm. tall, the long sides grooved between the staminodes; stigmas c. 6–12, sessile, arranged around a long groove; locule narrow, placentae forming ridges projecting into it. Infructescence to c. 15 × 3 cm. on stiff woody peduncle. Individual frs (phalanges) c. 8 × 2 × 10 mm., compressed laterally, thin-walled proximally, broadest c. ⅓ from base and almost woody towards top. Seed c. 1 mm. long, narrow, on long, slender funicle.