Shrubs evergreen, dioecious; branches usually whorled; branchlets subopposite or subwhorled, base with persistent bud scales; winter bud scales overlapping, ridged adaxially. Leaves spirally arranged, distichous; petiole very short or leaves sessile; blade linear, basally twisted, straight or slightly falcate, midvein raised both adaxially and abaxially, abaxial stomatal bands 2, white, resin canal absent, base obtuse, decurrent, apex mucronate. Reproductive structures axillary, solitary, sessile. Pollen cones globose, with 4 pairs of decussate basal bracts; microsporophylls 6-12, shieldlike, decussate; pollen sacs 4-6, radially arranged. Seed-bearing structures with 7 pairs of decussate basal bracts in 4 series each of 3 or 4 bracts. Ovule erect, sessile. Aril white when ripe, cupular, succulent. Seed ripening in 1st year, nutlike, ovoid, slightly flattened, enclosed within aril except for distal, exposed part, apex with a small mucro. Cotyledons 2. Germination epigeal. 2n = 24*.
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