Fls small, 5-merous, us. in racemes; sepals imbricate, persistent; petals keeled on inside. Stamens 10, free, or the petal-opposed ones adnate; anthers large. Carpels free, 5-10, 1-celled; receptacles conical; styles free, elongate. Frs of 5-10 ind. cocci surrounded by the enlarged, succulent petals; ovules solitary in each carpel, pend. Seeds compressed, with thin endosperm and straight embryos. A single genus of some 30 spp.; subshrubs, shrubs, or small trees with quadrangular branchlets, and simple opp. or whorled exstipulate lvs. Dist.-(a) southern Europe, (b) eastern Asia, (c) South and Central America, (d) N.Z. (possibly all endemic). For details see Good (New Phytol. 29, 1930, 196).