Fls 4-5-merous, perfect to unisexual, us. in cymose fascicles, sts solitary. Sepals free or connate towards base; petals free or partly connate. Staminal filaments obsolete to evident, free or ± adnate to petals; anthers dorsifixed. Style obsolete to evident; stigma capitate. Ovary superior; fr. a 1-seeded globose drupe. In the N.Z. spp. the fls and frs often do not develop till after lf-fall and thus appear naked on the branches. The frs often do not mature till the year after flowering. The calyx and style are long-persistent. Widespread genus of many spp., the N.Z. spp. endemic.