Annual or perennial herbs, sometimes woody at the base, usually ± succulent. Stipules 0. Leaves opposite or alternate, simple. Inflorescences axillary, solitary or in groups. Flowers bisexual, actinomorphic. Perianth segments 5, united below into a tube, persistent. Stamens 3-many. Ovary superior, of 1-5 united carpels; ovules 1-many per loculus. Fruit a capsule, circumscissile (in ours). Worldwide: 128 genera and 1,850 species, tropics and subtropics, mostly in South Africa and Australia. Caprivi: 1 genus and 1 taxon. |
|