Description from Flora of China
Shrubs or trees. Stipules intrapetiolar. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite, simple; leaf blade margin entire. Flowers usually bisexual, in axillary fascicles or cymes, regular, 5-merous, often heterostylous. Sepals 5, basally connate, with imbricate or valvate lobes, persistent. Petals 5, distinct, imbricate, usually with a scale on inner face at base. Stamens 5, 10, or 20, 1- or 2-verticillate; filament bases usually connate into a tube; anthers elliptic, 2-celled, with longitudinal slits. Ovary superior, connected with 3-5 carpels, 3-5-locular, with 1(or 2) axile; ovules pendulous, anatropous to hemitropous, placentation axile; styles 1-3 or 5, distinct or somewhat connate; stigmas oblique. Fruit a capsule or a 1-seeded drupe. Seeds with straight embryo and copious (rarely absent) endosperm.
Huang Chengchiu, Huang Baoxian & Xu Langran. 1998. Erythroxylaceae. In: Xu Langran & Huang Chengchiu, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 43(1): 109-115.
Ten genera and ca. 300 species: widely distributed in the tropical and subtropical zone, especially South America; two genera and three species (one introduced) in China.
(Authors: Liu Quanru (刘全儒); Bruce Bartholomew)