Shrubs or trees, deciduous or semi-evergreen, usually much-branched from base. Leaves: petiole present; blade with prominent midrib and clearly visible lateral veins on both surfaces. Inflorescences clustered at distal ends of branchlets of previous season, produced after shoot growth of current season begins, 6-18 cm; bract persistent. Pedicels: bracteoles persistent, 2. Flowers: sepals lanceolate-ovate, apex acute to acuminate; petals ovate to ovate-lanceolate, base not clawed, apex acute; stamens 5; filaments terete, somewhat expanded basally; ovary 2-3(-4)-locular; ovules 1-3 per locule; stigma 2-3(-4)-lobed. Fruits berrylike, unwinged, ovoid to subglobose. Seeds usually absent, sometimes 1-4.

Several species or varieties of Cyrilla have been distinguished on the basis of local variation in leaf and inflorescence size; most recent floristic treatments follow J. L. Thomas (1960) and recognize a single variable species.

Pedicels with a pair of persistent bractlets; pet thickened and glandular at and below the middle; stamens 5, alternate with the pet; filaments terete; anthers opening longitudinally, dorsoversatile, with separate basal lobes; ovary 2-3-locular; ovules 3 per locule; fr sulcate. Monospecific.

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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