Flora of New Zealand Series

Shrubs or small trees, not armed, mostly deciduous; indumentum of simple hairs or 0. Winter buds naked. Lvs alternate, mostly large, with caducous, subulate stipules. Fls small, axillary, in sessile or pedunculate fascicles or umbel-like cymes, rarely solitary, usually ⚥, usually 5-merous. Calyx lobes triangular. Petals with narrow claw, ± hooded. Stamens ± included. Ovary 3-celled, free from disc; style 1; stigma 3-lobed. Fr. a drupe with 2-4 nutlet-like pyrenes. Seed smooth; germination hypogeal.

c. 50 spp., America, temperate Eurasia, N. Africa. Naturalised sp. 1.