in botany, a genus of the dioecia order, belonging to the pentandria clasps of plants. The calyx of the male is five-leaved; there is no corolla; the Antidicamtherae are bifid: The female calyx is five-leaved; the marianites corolla is wanting; the stigmae are five; the berry is cylindric and one-seeded. There is but one species, the alexitera, a native of India.