Trees, shrubs, infrequently herbs. Leaves opposite or verticillate, petiolate, the stipules small and deciduous; blade coriaceous, the midvein prominent on the lower surface. Inflorescences terminal and axillary, thyrsoid with helicoid cymes as partial inflorescences. Flowers with the calyx lobes unequal, one of the lateral lobes (the fourth one) much larger than the others and usually spurred at the base, the other lobes usually 1/4 as long as the spurred one or less; corolla yellow or orange-yellow, the petals usually 3, rarely 1. or none, the anterior or center petal alternating with the third and fifth sepals, and mostly larger than the others; stamen opposite the anterior petal; staminodes usually 2, opposite the lateral and posterior petals, small; ovary superior, 3-locular, the ovules 2 per locule. Capsules markedly 3-angular, 3-celled, the pericarp coriaceous or ligneous, the exocarp blackish, the endocarp golden-yellow; seed 1 per cell, the wing unilateral, the testa chartaceous.
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