Mostly trees and shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple; stipules absent. Flowers bisexual, regular. Sepals fused and with 4-5 lobes. Petals 4-8, fused at the base. Stamens 4-16. Ovary half inferior to superior. Fruit a capsule, sometimes a drupe or samara; sometimes with longitudinal lateral wings.
Cultivated species are mostly suited to cool climate areas.
Various resins are used medicinally.
Flowers regular, petals fused.
12 genera and about 170 species from Malesia, E Asia and the Americas but with a centre of distribution in E Asia.
Source: (1997). Styracaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
