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Evergreen trees or shrubs. Leaves papery to thickly leathery, pinninerved, ± pubescent. Cymose panicle axillary or subterminal, composed of pedunculate cymes or rarely subumbels, bracteate and bracteolate. Flowers bisexual, pedicellate. Perianth tube short; perianth lobes 6, subequal or outer 3 smaller, hairy, dilated after anthesis, caducous or persistent. Fertile stamens 9, in 3 whorls; filaments filiform, complanate, pilose, those of 3rd whorl each with 2 glands at base, others glandless; anthers 4-celled, cells introrse in 1st and 2nd whorls, all extrorse or upper 2 cells lateral and lower 2 cells extrorse in 3rd whorl. Staminodes 3, of innermost whorl, sagittate-cordate, stalked; stalk pilose. Ovary ovoid; style slender, hairy; stigma discoid. Drupe fleshy, small and globose, or large and ovoid or pear-shaped; fruit stalk ± dilated and fleshy, or terete.
Shrubs to medium-sized trees , evergreen. Bark reddish brown, thin, fissured. Leaves alternate, aromatic. Leaf blade pinnately veined; surfaces pubescent, especially abaxially, becoming glabrescent with age; domatia absent. Inflorescence appearing when mature leaves are present, axillary, flowers in pedunculate, compound cymes. Flowers bisexual; tepals persistent, yellowish, pubescent, outer tepals slightly shorter than inner; stamens 9, anthers 4-locular, 4-valved, anthers of outer 6 stamens introrse, anthers of inner 3 latrorse; staminodes 3, sagittate; ovary nearly globose. Drupe dark blue to black, nearly globose, borne on pedicel with tepals persistent at base; cupule absent. x = 12.
Shrubs or trees, evergreen. Leaves alternate, simple, lamina without domatia. Flowers in axillary or subterminal panicles, bisexual, 3-merous, pedicellate. Tepals 6, subequal or outer 3 lobes slightly shorter than inner 3, spreading to dilated, pubescent, caducous or sometimes persistent in fruit. Fertile stamens 9 in 3 whorls, or if 6, stamens of whorl III staminodial, inner 3 stamens with 2 glands at base; anthers usually 4-locular; staminodes 3, sagittate-cordate, usually large. Ovary ovoid to nearly globose, style filiform. Fruit a drupe, obovoid to globose, small to large and fleshy, with one large seed; receptacle not enlarged in fruit.
Fls perfect; inner series of tepals evidently larger than the outer; fertile stamens 9, in 3 series, the filaments of the inner series each with a pair of basilateral glands; fourth series of stamens represented by staminodes; fr subtended by the persistent, somewhat accrescent tepals; evergreen trees or tall shrubs. 200, mainly trop.
