Treelets or rarely shrubs, up to c. 10 m high, monoecious or dioecious. Leaves imparipinnate, usually multijugate, long and numerous, crowded at the tips of the rather thick, pithy branches, leaving large scars. Leaflets opposite or subopposite, slightly oblique, ovate-lanceolate to obovate-lanceolate, rarely ovate-oblong (or linear extra-Mal.), sessile or nearly so, attached to the rachis with a conspicuous articulation; midrib slightly prominent on the upper surface, prominent beneath; nerves inconspicuous above and below, or slightly sulcate beneath, straight, ending in an intramarginal, looped vein. Panicles axillary, mostly large and lax, puberulous, usually also with thickish, short, stiff, capitate-glandular hairs. Flowers bisexual, female or male; female flowers always with rather large but sterile stamens, male flowers always with a sterile pistil. Calyx small, 5(-6) lobed, lobes ovate to triangular, acute or bluntish, longer than the tube. Petals 5(-6), induplicate-valvate in bud, lanceolate or ovate-to obovate-oblong. Stamens 5(-6), episepalous, filaments narrowing to the top, usually with a very small (c. 1/5 mm long) adaxial ligule at the base, alternating with 5(-6) small entire, emarginate or cleft staminodes, which are usually connate with the abaxial and lateral sides of the base of the filaments; sometimes there is a second row of still smaller entire staminodes outside the stamens; stamens and staminodes sometimes connate with the base of the petals; filaments glabrous or sparsely hairy. Disk inconspicuous. Carpels 5(-6), free, the style attached adaxially near the top and mutually connate or coherent; stigma peltate, 5(-6)-lobed. Each ovary with 1 anatropous ovule with adaxial placenta. Fruits up to 5, c. 3 mm stalked, spreading, ellipsoid or ovoid, slightly bicarinate nuts with very thin exocarp and hard endocarp. Seed exalbuminous with 2 planoconvex cotyledons and a short plumule.
Uses. The roots, and particularly the bark of the roots, are used as a febrifuge. The Malays give it also as a tonic, e.g. after childbirth. In Borneo a decoction of the bark is drunk to relieve pain in the bones and a decoction of the leaves is used for washing itches. The Malayan name bedara laut is also used for Strychnos, which has the same uses (cf. BURKILL Dict. 1 1935 984 ).
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