Fls small, perfect or unisexual, us. panicled. Calyx 4-fid; corolla with short tube, 4 valvate lobes; stamens 2, filaments short. Ovary 2-loculed, style short, stigma 2-lobed or capitate; ovules 2 per locule; fr. a drupe. Trees or shrubs with opp., entire lvs. Genus of some 35 Old World spp. The N.Z. spp. are dioec.; fls in racemes, petals 0, stamens hypog.; stigma large, 2-lobed; mature drupe red, or occ. orange. They belong to section (Spach Hist. Vég. Phan. 8, 1839, 258). occurs in Norfolk Id, our other spp. are endemic.

Evergreen, small to medium-sized trees and shrubs. Shoots terete or quadrangular, often with lepidote scales. Lvs nearly always opposite, simple, coriaceous, entire, usually with lepidote scales at least when young. Fls many, small, ☿ or unisexual, usually in axillary panicles or racemes, not noticeably fragrant. Calyx deeply 4-lobed, very small. Corolla 4-lobed, subrotate; lobes > tube, ± valvate. Stamens 2, epipetalous, ± exserted; filaments short. Stigma sessile or subsessile, capitate or shortly 2-lobed. Fr. a 1-seeded, ovoid, ellipsoid or globose drupe.