Shrubs, rarely trees. Leaves of various shapes, simple or pinnate. Flowers usually in terminal racemes; bracts minute and caducous. Calyx tube mostly recurved. Disc obliq. e, annular or semi-annular, entire or sometimes nearly lobed. Ovary usually stipitate; ovules 2. Fruit a follicle; valves plano-concave, coriaceous to somewhat woody. Seeds winged or not.