Herbs, annual or perennial, unarmed, often procumbent, often fetid when bruised, often fleshy, often drying blackened. Raphides present. Leaves opposite, without domatia; stipules persistent, interpetiolar and usually fused to petioles, truncate to triangular, laciniate to setose, sometimes glandular. Inflorescences axillary and/or terminal and sometimes displaced to pseudoaxillary, laxly cymose to capitate, few to many flowered, pedunculate to sessile, bracteate or bracts reduced. Flowers sessile to pedicellate, bisexual, at least sometimes distylous. Calyx limb deeply 4(or 5)-lobed. Corolla white, pink, or purple, funnelform to tubular, inside glabrous or villous in tube and/or throat; lobes 4(or 5), valvate in bud. Stamens 4(or 5), inserted usually in corolla throat, exserted or included; filaments short to developed; anthers dorsifixed near base. Ovary 2[-4]-celled, ovules several or rarely numerous or 1 in each cell on ascending axile placenta attached to septum near base; stigmas 2(-4), linear, included or exserted. Fruit capsular or rarely indehiscent, subglobose, turbinate, obconic, ovoid, or dicoccous, often laterally compressed, loculicidally dehiscent through apical portion, this portion plane or sometimes shortly raised into a beak, leathery to membranous, with calyx limb persistent; seeds few to numerous, small, disciform to plano-convex, rounded or rarely winged, scabrous foveolate; endosperm corneous; embryo clavate.
Home