Mostly herbs or (sub)shrubs; Climbers in Mendoncia und Thunbergia; rarely trees; Nodes tend to be swollen when fresh, contracted when dried;
Floral characters
Inflorescens racemose or thyrsoid; often with large bracts; flowers frequently zygomorphic; Sepals 4-5; corolla 5-lobed, usually bilabiate, with obvious tube; disc present mostly present; stamen 2 or 4; ovary superior, 2-locular; flowers often red and hummingbird pollinated (Aphelandra);
Leaf characters
leaves opposite, either entire or with spiny dentate margins; often with cystolithes on the upper surface (appearing as white streaks in the lamina when seen through a hand lens);
Stipules
absent
Fruit characters
fruits usually a 2-valved loculicidal, elastically dehiscent capsule; seeds mostly supported by curved retinacula; rarely fruit a drupe (Mendoncia); seeds often lenticular
Glands
absent
Hairs
present or absent
Latex
absent
Uses
often used as ornamental plants;
Distribution maps
(online von http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/ . Dort zitiert wie unter jedem Diagramm vermerkt):
