Trees or shrubs, usually dioecious, rarely monoecious. Juvenile and adult leaves similar. Adult leaves functional, keeled, scale-like, less than 5 mm long, spirally arranged, closely imbricate. Male and female cones solitary, terminal on normal vegetative shoots. Female cones comprising 5-10 scales; fertile scales lax and spreading, separated by distinct internodes, becoming fleshy at maturity; ovules inverted (obliquely inclined towards the cone axis). Seeds erect at maturity, with a fleshy epimatium forming an asymmetric sheath around the lower half.
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