Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Terrestrial or sometimes aquatic herbs, rarely vines or shrubs.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple or compound. Alternate or rarely opposite. Petioles usually present. Stipules absent or vestigial.

Flowers: Flowers in cymose, racemose, or paniculate inflorescences. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or unisexual, actinomorphic or zygomorphic, usually insect–pollinated. Receptacle usually elongate. Calyx of 3 to numerous sepals; sepals distinct, often petaloid, especially in apetalous genera, usually imbricate in bud, ± caducous. Corolla (petals) absent or 3 to numerous, distinct, usually staminodial in origin, usually with a nectary near base, sometimes reduced to stipitate nectaries. Stamens numerous, distinct, usually centripetal, sometimes in whorls of 5; anthers dithecal, introrse or rarely extrorse, opening by a longitudinal slit. Ovary superior, carpels (1–)several to numerous, 1-celled, distinct or rarely connate into a compound ovary; ovules several to numerous and marginal, or solitary and apical or nearly basal, anatropous or sometimes hemitropous.

Fruit: Follicles; achenes; or rarely berry-like. Seeds small; with abundant endosperm and minute embryo.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range: