Family: Aquifoliaceae

Habit: Trees or shrubs, dioecious.

Leaves: Leaves simple, alternate; the lamina weakly coriaceous, often drying dark brown to nearly black, sometimes with conspicuous dark puncations on the abaxial surface; the margins entire, dentate, to serrate.

Inflorescence: Inflorescences axillary or ramiflorous, fasciculate, racemose cymes.

Flowers: Flowers actinomorphic, unisexual, usually 5-merous, but sometimes 4-6-merous; the sepals valvate, weakly connate at the base; the petals imbricate, white to yellowish; the base sometimes forming a tube from connate petal bases; the stamens alternate with petals; the gynoecium syncarpous, ovary superior, locule 1 per carpel, style terminal, reduced or absent; staminodes present in pistillate flowers and pistillodes present in staminate flowers.

Fruit: Fruit a drupe.

Seeds: Seeds small, 1-20 per fruit, the endosperm abundant, entire.