Polygamo-dioecious; fls 4-8-merous, unisexual or sometimes perfect, the pistillate usually bearing stamens with small anthers, the staminate often with a vestigial pistil; cal small but evident, persistent under the fr; pet obovate, shortly connate at base; stamens alternate with the pet, barely adnate to the cor-tube; ovary 4-8-locular; style very short and stout, or none; fr black or red (yellow); trees or shrubs with simple, alternate lvs and axillary clusters of small, white or greenish fls. 300-400, cosmop.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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