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Small trees, shrubs or lianes, evergreen or deciduous, monoecious or dioecious, perennial. Indumentum of simple, biseriate or stellate hairs and sessile coloured glands. Leaves opposite or alternate, petiolate, stipulate; lamina lobate or elobate, sometimes peltate; margins entire, sinuate or dentate; palminerved or penninerved; foliar glands on upper surface; granular inclusions sometimes present. Inflorescences generally unisexual, terminal or axillary, spicate, racemose or paniculate; male flowers in 1–many-flowered bracteate fascicles, female flowers in 1 (rarely 2)-flowered bracteate fascicles [reduced fascicle]. Male flowers: calyx globose in bud, valvate, 2–4-lobed; petals absent; disc glands absent or present; stamens numerous, filaments free or fused, anthers subdorsifixed, longitudinally dehiscent. Female flowers: calyx ovoid-globose in bud, imbricate to valvate, 2–4-lobed; petals absent; disc glands absent; ovary 2–4-locular, with 1 ovule per locule; styles ± free or connate for varying lengths, simple, generally recurved, papillose or plumose, often with indumentum on backs. Fruit globose to depressed globose, generally strongly angled, smooth or echinate, dehiscing septicidally into bivalved cocci leaving a persistent columella; endocarp crustaceous. Seeds globose to ovoid, ecarunculate; cotyledons broad, flat.
Trees or shrubs, rarely climbers, usually dioecious; indumentum usually of simple and stellate hairs, and whitish to reddish glandular scales. Leaves alternate or opposite with one member of pair smaller; stipules usually subulate; leaf blade undivided or lobate, sometimes peltate, abaxially often glandular-scaly, adaxially often distinctly glandular, base usually with 2 or more glands, venation palmate or pinnate. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, mostly unbranched, less often branched, usually many flowered. Male flowers usually several per bract; calyx 3-5-partite, valvate; petals and disk absent; stamens 15-250; filaments free; anthers 2-locular, connective often broad; pistillode absent [or rarely present]. Females flowers 1(or 2) per bract; calyx 3-5-lobed, sometimes spathaceous and caducous; ovary (2 or)3(or 4)-locular; styles simple, plumose or long papillose; ovules 1 per locule. Capsule (2 or)3(or 4)-locular, smooth or softly spiny. Seeds subglobose or ovoid, smooth, sometimes with aril.
Male flowers: calyx usually globose in bud, later valvately (2)3–4(5)-partite; petals absent; disk glands absent or numerous, free, dispersed amongst the stamens; stamens numerous, on a slightly elevated receptacle, filaments free, anthers subdorsifixed with a variable connective, longitudinally dehiscent; pistillode absent or rarely minute.
Female flowers: calyx shallowly to deeply imbricately or valvately 3–5(10)-lobed, persistent, or subspathaceous and caducous; petals absent; disk absent; ovary (2)3(4)-locular, with 1 ovule per loculus; styles free or connate at the base, simple, recurved, papillose or plumose.
Leaves opposite or alternate, sometimes anisophyllous, petiolate, stipulate, sometimes lobed, entire or toothed, with 2 or more basal glands on the upper surface, and often pellucid-gland-dotted on upper and lower surfaces, penni-or palminerved.
Inflorescences unisexual, spicate, racemose or paniculate, terminal, subterminal or axillary, few-to many-flowered; male flowers commonly in fascicles along the axis, female flowers 1–2 per bract.
Fruits globose or (2)3(4)-lobed, smooth or echinate, dehiscing septicidally into bivalved cocci leaving a more or less 3-winged persistent columella; endocarp crustaceous.
Seeds globose or ovoid, ecarunculate, the outer testa slightly fleshy or soft, the inner testa crustaceous, smooth or rugulose, albumen fleshy, cotyledons broad, flat.
Dioecious, or rarely monoecious trees or shrubs often with a stellate, or sometimes simple or mixed, indumentum.
