The flowers are in a dense inflorescence, with the fruits maturing into a small blackish-brown drupe 6–10 mm diameter with a thin layer of sweet flesh over the single seed.

The fruit is edible, and was used by Native American people as a minor food source.

Both species are cultivated as ornamental trees, widely planted in California, Florida, Texas, extreme southwest Utah, Arizona, southern New Mexico, South Carolina, and southern areas of North Carolina.

It is also cultivated in the Mediterranean region in southern Europe and north Africa, parts of Australia, and the leeward sides of the Hawaiian Islands.

Intolerance of wet, prolonged cold is the main reason the filifera species cannot grow in temperate climates.