Espera Willdenow.

Trees. Leaves alternate; leaf blade basal veins 5-7, base cordate, margin entire. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, paniculate. Flowers many, minute. Calyx campanulate, 3-5-divided. Petals 5, white or pink, spatulate or filiform. Stamens many, free; staminodes absent. Ovary 3(or 4)-loculed; stigma 3-lobed. Fruit a capsule, globose, 3(or 4)-valved, loculicidally dehiscent, each valve with 2 erect wings. Seeds 1 or 2(-4) per cell, villous; endosperm fleshy; cotyledons fallacious.

Six species: primarily in tropical Asia and Polynesia; one species in China.