Mostly shrubs or herbs, or lianas and sometimes trees. Great variety in plant forms, form familiar, twiggy growths with rather ordinary leaves, or thorn bearing and very much like cacti.
Distribution
Cosmopolitic, tropical regions, except in Arctic and Antarctic regions. Some species accumulated in atropical temperate localities like the south of US, mediterrean basin, near east, southern africa, but usually stricly tropical. In tropical regions, predominantly in indomalaysia and neotropics. Not so frequent in appearance in africa.
Floral characters
The flowers are small, the perianth usually inconspicuous, there are usually three carpels with prominent stigmas, and the fruits have a distinctive and persistent columella, large and often carunculate seeds (one per loculus), and explosive dehiscence. Flowers unisexual (monoecious or dioecious), usually radial, showy to inconspicious. Arid, Actinomorphic, or very rarely irregular.
Leaf characters
Mostly alternate, sometimes opposite, simple and entire, or lobed or coarsely toothed, or compound., in succulent forms mostly reduced. Cauline stipules are common.
Stipules
generally present but may be reduced to hairs, glands or spines.
Fruit characters
when non-schizocarpic, a capsule, or a drupe. Fruits have a distinctive and persistent columella, large and often carunculate seeds (one per loculus), and explosive dehiscence. Fruit non-fleshy (usually), or fleshy; dehiscent, or indehiscent, or a schizocarp (usually). Mericarps when schizocarpic, (2-)3 (usually, usually dehiscent). Elastically dehiscent (schizocarpic capsules often splitting elastically), or passively dehiscent. Seeds endospermic (nearly always). Endosperm oily.
Glands
present
Hairs
present
Latex
present, often with milky juice.
Odor
present or absent, when present, numerous: among others spicy, offensive, pleasant, of benzaldehyde, aromatic, rancid.
