Based on Taylor & Gereau (2011: p. 99)
Soft to suffrutescent herbs, shrubs, or infrequently small trees, terrestrial and sometimes apparently stoloniferous, unarmed,with raphides in the tissues, fleshy to succulent. Leaves opposite or in verticils of 3--4, sessile to petiolate, entire, with the higher-order venation not lineolate, without acarodomatia in the vein axils but occasionally with paired swollen ant vesicles at base of blade; stipules interpetiolar or shortly fused around stem, subtruncate to triangular or rarely 2-lobbed, often with a pyramidal or ornamented medial projection, sometimes glandular, in bud valvate or perhaps imbricated, deciduous or sometimes with truncate basal portion persisting at least shortly after upper portion has fallen. Inflorescences axillary at nodes with and/or below leaves, capitate to glomerulate, fasciculate, congested or laxly cymose with axes often monochasial and cincinnoid, few- to multiflowered, sessile to pedunculate, bracteate or bracts reduced. Flowers sessile or pedicellate, bisexual, homostylous, apparently protandrous, generally small, perhaps fragrant, apparently diurnal; hypanthum turbinate to ellipsoid; calyx limb developed, shortly to deeply 4-lobed, without calycophylls; corolla funnelform, salverform, or rotate, white, yellow, pale green, yellowish green, pink, salmon, red, or purple and sometimes multicolored, internally glabrous, lobes 4, triangular, in bud imbricated simply, alternatively, or quincuncially with all arrangements sometimes found on the same plant (Lorence & Dwyer, 1988), without appendages; stamens (3)4(5), inserted in lower part of corolla tube, anthers narrowly oblong or ellipsoid-oblong, often bright white, deshicent by linear slits, exserted, with connective sometimes prolonged at one or both ends; ovary 2(--4)-locular, ovules numerous, peltate on axile placentas, stigmas 2(--4), linear, clavate, or lancecolate, exserted, often bright white or strikingly colored. Fruit baccate to irregularly capsular, subglobose to elipsoid, fleshy, juicy, spongy, mealy, or ultimately capsular with irregular dehiscence (Lorence & Dwyer, 1988), white, pink, orange, red, or purple-black; seeds numerous, small (generally 0.2-0.3 mm long), irregularly angled, reticulate to foveolate with surface granular between fenestrated walls.