Description: Trees or shrubs of coastal and estuarine habitats.
Leaves alternate or opposite.
Flowers in umbels or racemes, 5-merous. Calyx deeply 5-lobed. Corolla lobes often longer than tube. Stamens 5; filaments shortly fused; anther 2-locular, transversely septate, dehiscing by longitudinal slits.
Capsule cylindrical, curved, splitting longitudinally; seed large and without endosperm at maturity, germinating while still on the parent plant (viviparous).
Distribution and occurrence: World: 2 species, South-East Asia, Malesia, Australia, Pacific islands. Australia: 1 species (native).
Formerly in Myrsinaceae.
Text by G. J. Harden
Taxon concept:
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