Trees or shrubs. Leaves simple, usually oblique, serrate or divided. Inflorescence a paniclelike cyme, terminal or axillary. Flowers small. Calyx 5-divided, base enlarged and concave, apex elongate into long beltlike appendix. Stamens 5, opposite petals; anthers nearly globose, unequally 2-celled; staminodes 5, linear-lanceolate, opposite to sepals. Ovary sessile, 5-celled; ovules 2-6 per cell; style connate at base or free. Capsule 5-loculed, hispid, loculicidally dehiscent. Seeds with endosperm; cotyledons flat.

About nine species: tropical Asia, Australia; one species in China.