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Annual herbs, bisexual. Stems glabrous, often partially red-purple. Leaves opposite-decussate, shortly petiolate. Inflorescence head-like, terminal, erect; peduncle expanded at apex into a funnel-shaped receptacle passing into involucral bracts; involucral bracts 4, sessile. Flowers circumscissile above ovary, glabrous or rarely with simple hairs below circumscission point; pedicel compressed, articulate at apex. Hypanthium: ovary-portion fusiform; style-portion longer and narrower. Sepals 4, imbricate. Corolla lobes absent. Stamens 2, inserted at summit of hypanthium opposite outer sepals. Ovary 1-locular at maturity. Style subterminal and excentric; stigma papillose. Fruit dry, enclosed in persistent base of hypanthium.
Herbs to tall shrubs; hairs (wherever present) nearly always colourless or white. Leaves opposite-decussate or sometimes alternate. Inflorescence usually a very condensed terminal raceme, rarely elongate or of axillary clusters; peduncle not expanded at apex or with a convex or rarely concave receptacle; involucral bracts absent to many. Hypanthium usually with a fusiform ovary-portion, and a narrower, often cylindrical style-portion which is usually partly or fully persistent in fruit. Sepals 4, imbricate. Corolla lobes absent. Stamens 2 or very rarely 1, inserted at or near summit of hypanthium opposite outer sepals. Ovary 1-locular at maturity; ovule 1. Style subterminal and excentric; stigma papillose or brush-like.
Fls unisexual to perfect, us. capitate to solitary. Calyx tubular (hypanthium ?), us. swollen at base, 4-lobed (sepals ?); petal scales 0; stamens 2, inserted on throat, filaments slender, anthers introrse; disk 0. Ovary 1-celled, style us. elongate; ovule solitary; fr. small, drupaceous or dry. About 80 spp. of shrubs or subshrubs of Australia and N.Z., with a few in Timor and Lord Howe Is; the N.Z. spp. endemic; the fls mostly functionally unisexual; the ♂ us. larger than ♀, with long filaments, small stigma and abortive ovary; the ♀ with subsessile ± aborted stamens and longer stigma, receptacle villous.
