Dioecious or polygamo-dioecious; cal and cor rather small, 4- lobed; stamens 2(4), included; ovules 2 per locule; fr a 1-seeded bitter drupe; evergreen shrubs or small trees with simple lvs and small, scaly-bracted, axillary (in ours) or terminal panicles of greenish-white or white fls. 15, the others Asiatic.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
