From the Greek melos — melon or apple, dinein — to twist, alluding to the fruit and the twining shoots.

Lianas or subshrubs, evergreen; latex white. Stems woody, without spines. Leaves opposite, stalked; blade well developed; colleters absent at base. Inflorescence extra-axillary, generally cymose. Flowers scented, stalked. Corolla salver-shaped; tube cylindrical; lobes convolute in bud, overlapping to the left. Corolline corona of 5 erect lobes or coalesced into irregular lobing at top of tube. Stamens enclosed, attached in tube about middle or towards base, not sticking to style head. Disk absent. Fruit of separate carpels, a fleshy indehiscent berry.

Seeds numerous, oblong, not winged, without hair tufts.

One species is commonly grown by rainforest plant enthusiasts.

Frost-sensitive.

Cuttings or seeds.

Leaves opposite; corolline corona present at corolla mouth; fruit syncarpous, a fleshy indehiscent berry.

About 75 species in Asia, Malesia, Melanesia and Australia (4 species).

Forster (1992a, 1996a).

Source: Forster, P. (2002). Apocynaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.