Monoecious annual herbs, prostrate or climbing. Leaves simple. Tendrils 2-6-fid. Male flowers in a raceme. Petals 5, 2-4.5 cm, entire. Stamens 5. Female flowers solitary; ovary densely puberulous; stigma 3-lobed. Mature fruit dry, brownish, opening by an apical lid, fibrous internally. Seeds elliptic, flattened.
Worldwide: 7 species in the tropics
Mozambique: 2 taxa.