Herbs or subshrubs, sometimes ericoid in habit. Leaves occasionally verti-cillate, often coriaceous, frequently sessile; stipules interpetiolar, often subulate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, cymose, usually branching dichotomously, or spikelike and racemiform; bracts often absent. Flowers with the calycine cup reduced, the lobes usually 4, equal or unequal; corolla variable in color, infun-dibuliform or cylindrical, the lobes 4, valvate; ovary 2-celled, the ovules 1 per cell, attached basally. Fruits a schizocarp, at first fleshy, didymous, indehiscent, compressed, the thin endocarp usually hard; seeds compressed.
Home