Description from Flora of China Paracyclea Kudô & Yamamoto.
Vines. Petiole usually long; leaf blade peltate, palmately
veined. Inflorescences axillary, terminal or on old stems,
thyrsoid, usually narrow, rarely broad and sparse; bracts small.
Male flowers: sepals usually 4 or 5(or 6), usually connate, 4-
or 5-lobed, rarely free; petals 4 or 5, usually connate, entire
or 4-8-lobed, rarely free, sometimes absent; stamens 4 or 5,
connate into a peltate synandrium, anthers dehiscing
transversely. Female flowers: sepals and petals 1 or 2, opposite
to each other, rarely absent; carpel 1, stigma short, 3- or many
lobed. Drupes obovate-globose to rotund, often slightly flat,
style scar near base; endocarp bony, horseshoe-shaped, abaxially
bearing 2 or 3 rows of tubercles on both surfaces of rib;
condyle usually 1 or 2 cavities, often perforate between style
scar and base. Seed horseshoe-shaped; embryo terete, embedded in
endosperm. About 29 species: S and SE Asia; 13 species (five
endemic) in China.