Description: Erect shrub, monoecious; stems slender, cane-like, unbranched, with annular scars.
Leaves few, in a terminal crown, pinnately divided; petiole with a leathery sheathing base produced into 2 stipule-like lobes.
Flowers unisexual, in spikes enclosed in narrow spathes; ovary 1-locular with one erect ovule. Tepals 6, 3 inner larger.
Fruit red.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 11 species, New Guinea & Australia. Australia: 7 species (native), Qld & N.S.W.
The generic name has traditionally been treated as masculine, hence the ending -os for 'monostachyos'.
Text by A. K. Brooks; edited KL Wilson (2013)
Taxon concept:
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