| Habitat | Florida to Brazil and Ecuador, western Africa, Melanesia and Polynesia. |
| Bark/Stem Description | The bark is thick and has broad plates of thin scales which are grey to brown. |
| Leaf Description | The leaves are alternately arranged, simple and oblong, 2–7 cm long and 1–3 cm broad, with a tapering tip and an entire margin. They are dark green and shiny on top, and paler with fine silky hairs underneath, and have two salt glands at the base of the leaf. |
| Fruit Description | The fruits are button-like, 5–8 mm diameter, with no petals; they are produced in stalked panicles of 35-56 flowers. The fruit is a cluster of red to brown, small scaly, two-winged cone-like seeds, 5–15 mm long. The seed heads burst open when ripe. |
