Shrub to 1.5 m, parasitic on the roots of Tsuga and other hosts, with fan-like ascending branches, the branchlets simulating a single compound lf; lvs lanceolate, acuminate, cuneate to the subsessile base, puberulent especially on the margin and midvein, increasing in size on each branchlet from base to summit, to 7 cm; staminate umbels 3-10-fld, subsessile, the ovate tep 2.5-3 mm; hypanthium (and ovary) of the pistillate fls 7-8 mm, the bracts at its summit lanceolate, 7-9 mm, the sep triangular, erect, 2 mm; fr 2 cm, the bracts persistent nearly to maturity. Mt. woods at low elev.; s. Va., N.C., and Tenn.; very rare. May.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.