Monoecious or dioecious trees or shrubs, glabrate, stems sometimes but-tressed or stilt rooted, sap often white or yellowish. Leaves at first opposite, soon becoming alternate, entire, simple, drying minutely revolute, the costa el-evated beneath, lateral nerves sometimes forming a submarginal vein; petioles sometimes short, flat or canaliculate above; stipules or pseudostipules wanting, axillary buds not normally conspicuous. Inflorescences cymose panicles, mostly terminal, often pyramidal, basally subtended by a pair of minute to foliaceous bracts which rarely envelop the entire inflorescence in bud, the branching mostly opposite or ternate, bracteoles mostly present, small and cucullate, subtending the pedicels and parts of the rachis; pedicels often thickening but not much elon-gating in fruit. Flowers with the buds minutely apiculate, completely enclosed in the outer sepals which are fused to the top showing only indistinct sutures, split-ting lengthwise into 2-4 opposite, cucullate, coriaceous segments (sepals), an inner whorl of sepals sometimes present, the complete calyx consisting of 2-8 decussate sepals, the inner series imbricate apically and overtopping the bud; corolla sometimes fused in bud and splitting lengthwise to yield the 2-8 segments (petals), or the petals free and distinct in bud, imbricate and overtopping the bud, opposite and decussate; stamens numerous, the filaments free, slender or stout, glabrous, the anthers small, the 2 lobes separated by the connective, each lobe 2-locular with a thin septum, the connective sometimes produced into a minute apiculum; ovary conical or obtuse, sometimes sulcate, 4-5-carpellate, syncar-pous, the styles short or produced into prongs in fruit, the stigmas ovoid to discoid, stigmatic abaxially; ovules 1 in each locule, axile, medifixed, anatropous or perhaps campylotropous, enveloped in a fleshy, venose aril, the aril and lower portion of the ovule sometimes produced into a spur filling a cavity in the base of the locule. Fruit a fleshy, drupaceous capsule, dehiscent septicidally to the base, often brightly colored within; seeds 1 per locule or fewer by abortion, oblong, ellipsoidal or faboid in shape, enveloped by the fleshy aril, the testa wanting, one end sometimes produced into a basal spur.
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A small tree. It has stilt roots. The trunk is straight. The bark has a bad smell. The leaves are clustered at the ends of branches. The flowers are green and have a sweet scent. The fruit is a capsule with a 4 lobed stigma at the crown. The fruit are reddish-pink.
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