Information

Shrubs or trees with unarmed branches. Leaves on long petioles or almost sessile; lamina glabrous, scaly or hairy, sometimes glandular-punctate. Stipules caducous. Flowers often large, in axillary fascicles or solitary, bisexual and male, often appearing before the leaves. Sepals 3, imbricate, concave. Petals 8–12, larger than the sepals. Stamens ?, with linear or sagittate-linear anthers dehiscing by slits or pores. Ovary 1-locular with 5–8 multiovulate placentas; style simple with 5–8 distinct stigmas or the stigmatic apex only slightly lobed and somewhat peltate. Fruit an echinate or smooth, dehiscent, ovoid, globose or ellipsoid capsule splitting into 5–8 valves, many-seeded and sometimes with a fleshy or gelatinous pulp.