Shrubs or small trees , deciduous. Bark grayish, becoming darker with age. Leaves alternate, aromatic when crushed (at least when young). Leaf blade pinnately veined, membranous to nearly leathery; surfaces glabrous to densely pubescent; domatia absent. Inflorescences appearing before leaves, axillary, clusters (pseudoumbels), clusters subsessile, nearly umbellate, each subtended by 2 pairs of decussate bracts. Flowers unisexual, staminate and pistillate on different plants, a few bisexual flowers on some plants; tepals deciduous, yellow, pellucid-dotted, equal, glabrous. Staminate flowers: stamens 9; anthers 2-locular, 2-valved, introrse. Pistillate flowers: staminodes variously developed; ovary globose. Drupe bright red, ellipsoid to nearly globose, borne on pedicel, with or without persistent tepals at base. x = 12.

Mostly dioecious; tep 6, deciduous; stamens 9, the 3 inner each with a pair of basilateral glands; anthers introrse, 2-locular; pedicels short, slender to maturity; trees or shrubs. 100, mainly Asian.

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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