[1] It consists of about 8 species of evergreen trees, from tropical northeastern Australia, New Caledonia, Africa and Asia.

[2] All of the species have simple, smooth-edged, leathery leaves and much-branched panicles of small white flowers with recurving petals and conspicuous stamens.

The African species (Apodytes dimidiata) is grown for its attractive display of white blossom and red and black fruit, as well as for shade, screening and hedges.

It is also grown in southern Africa for ornament and timber, and a bark preparation is used to drive out intestinal parasites.

It adapts readily to gardens in warm-temperate to tropical climates, though growth is not particularly fast and it can be kept to large shrub size.