Trees, evergreen, unarmed. Trichomes simple. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate (occasional leaves paripinnate). Inflorescences paniculate, terminal. Flowers bisexual, 5-merous. Sepals basally connate, deciduous in fruit. Petals distinct, valvate, deciduous in fruit. Stamens 10, distinct, alternately unequal in length. Gynoecium a 5-carpelled pistil; carpels in ovary joined in style, otherwise contiguous, each with prominent apical gland; ovules 2 per locule; style lateral; stigma punctiform or capitellate. Fruit of 1–5 distinct samaras, these winged all around, asymmetrically elliptic or broadly so; abortive carpels deciduous; exocarp membranaceous, glabrous; mesocarp woody; endocarp cartilaginous. Seeds 1 or 2 per samara, irregular in shape; testa with thin sclerotesta bounded externally by dull reddish brown spongy tissue; endosperm scant. Embryo straight; cotyledons plano-convex, broadly elliptic in outline; hypocotyl terminal, considerably narrower than cotyledons.
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