Fr a 4-locellar drupaceous capsule, the exocarp fleshy, separating from the woody, reticulately sculptured, dehiscent endocarp, the thickened, seed-bearing portion crested on the upper (and sometimes also the lower) side, tapering into a long, stout, arcuately incurved beak that splits into 2 halves; cal irregular, cleft nearly to the base on the lower side; cor ventricose, weakly bilabiate; stamens 4; pollen-sacs widely divaricate, joined only at the summit; ovary initially unilocular, with 2 deeply intruded parietal placentas, each of these forked into 2 vertical lamellae, the ovules uniseriate along the edge of each lamella; herbs with a heavy odor; upper lvs often alternate; fls in terminal racemes that may appear lateral because of the continuing sympodial growth of the stem. 10, mostly N. Amer.
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