Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Herbs, perennial, terrestrial, among or on rocks, or epiphytic.

Stems: Stems very short to very elongate.

Roots: Roots usually present, often poorly developed in epiphytic taxa.

Leaves: Leaves simple. Usually spirally arranged, forming water-impounding rosette, occasionally lax and/or 2-ranked. Surfaces nearly always covered with peltate, water-absorbing trichomes. Margins serrate or entire. Petioles absent. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers in inflorescences terminal or lateral, sessile to scapose, simple or compound; bracts usually present, conspicuous. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or functionally unisexual, radially symmetric to slightly bilaterally symmetric. Perianth in 2 distinct sets of 3. Stamens in 2 series of 3. Ovary inferior or superior; ovule placentation axile.

Fruit: Capsules or berries. Seeds plumose; winged; or unappendaged.

Ploidy:

Habitat:

Elevation Range: