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Trees or shrubs, often very pachycaul, dioecious, more rarely with hermaphrodite flowers Indumentum of simple hairs, very rarely with stellate ones. Leaves spirally arranged, rarely opposite, pinnate, occasionally with tardily developed apical leaflets, very rarely with winged rachis. Inflorescences thyrses to racemose or spicate, sometimes reduced to fascicles or solitary flowers, axillary, ramiflorous or cauliflorous, sometimes with conspicuous bracteoles and these sometimes transitional to separate sepals. Calyx of free sepals or, more usually, a 3–5(–6)-lobed tube. Petals 3–6, free or adnate to base of staminal tube. Staminal tube cylindrical to urceolate, margin entire, lobed or tipped with 6–10(–13) appendages; anthers 6–16, within throat of tube, pollen sometimes shed in tetrads. Disk free, tubular though sometimes short or even subannular, margin sometimes lobed. Ovary 2–6-locular, each locule with 1 or 2 seeds; stylehead capitate to discoid. Fruit a 2–6-valved capsule, each valve with 1 or 2 seeds. Seeds anatropous, usually with aril or sarcotesta.
Trees dioecious, more rarely with bisexual flowers, with simple, sometimes also stellate, hairs. Leaves pinnate, usually in spirals. Flowers usually unisexual, rarely bisexual, in axillary to cauliflorous thyrses to racemes. Calyx of free sepals or a usually 3–5-lobed tube. Petals 3–6, free or adnate to staminal tube, valvate to imbricate. Staminal tube cylindrical to urceolate; margin entire to lobed; anthers 6–16, within tube. Disc usually tubular, surrounding or obscuring ovary. Ovary 2–5-locular, each locule with 1 or 2 anatropous ovules; stylehead discoid to subcapitate. Capsule 2–5-valved. Seeds 1 or 2 in each valve, usually fleshy.
Fls in cymose panicles; sepals and petals 4-5; staminal tube cylindric, toothed at mouth; anthers 8-10, included in tube; disk tubular, sheathing 3-5-celled ovary. Ovules us. 2 per cell; capsule loculicidally dehiscent; seeds and cots large. Trees with alt. pinnate lvs. Some 150 spp., mainly tropical and subtropical. The N.Z. sp. endemic.
