Lianas and climbing shrubs.Most of it are ephipyts.
Distribution
Tropics of the new world. It grows over trees on tropical rainforests
Floral characters
Terminal or subterminal inflorescences, spicate, racemose or umbellate, erect or pendulous, some of the bracts tranformed in caracteristic cup-shaped nectaries.4-5 sepals, 3-5 petals (free or connate), 3 to numerous stamens (filaments free or connate).Ovary superior (2-8 carpels). Pollen tricolporate to tricolporoidate.Pollination by bats, birds and insects.
Leaf characters
Simple, alternate, entire to crenate, glabrous, leathery,often dark punctate, stipules only in juvenile stages. This family present two kinds of leaves: When young it climb over trees, and in mature ones it becames free lianas.
Stipules
present
Fruit characters
Indehiscent globous capsules. A lot of seeds without endosperm. Flower formule: *Ca 4-5, Co3-5,A3-8,G2-8.
Hairs
present
Uses
not detected
Chemical characters
Not cyanogenic. Iridoids not detected. Proanthocyanidins present. Ellagic acid absent. Inulin recorded
Distribution maps
(online von http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/ . Dort zitiert wie unter jedem Diagramm vermerkt):
