Plants prevailingly dioec., but with several types of sexual expression. Fls solitary or in fascicles or cymes, seated in a cup formed by the partial fusion of 2 stipulate bracts (forming a calyculus). Calyx-teeth 4-5, us. minute, often absent in ♂. Corolla-tube us. narrow-funnelform, sts campanulate, lobes valvate. Stamens us. inserted near base of corolla-tube; filaments filiform; anthers us. far-exserted, ± sagittate, apiculate, pend. Ovary us. 2-loculed; styles us. 2, very slender, sts narrowly clavate in stigmatic region, us. far-exserted. Fr. a succulent ± globose drups with 2-(4) plano-convex pyrenes, us. crowned by withered persistent calyx. Shrubs or trees with simple opp. lvs and interpetiolar stipules us. gland-tipped when young. Over 90 spp., c. 45 in N.Z., c. 20 in Hawaii; a few in Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia, Tasmania. The N.Z. spp. endemic except C. pumila. Type sp. C. lucida.
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