Trees or shrubs, the latter sometimes scandent. Leaves oppsite; stipules caducous. Flowers bisexual, 4-5-merous. Calyx flat or recurved. Disc broad, fleshy, 4-5-lobed. Petals 4-5, rounded, spreading, often with coloured veins. Stamens 4-5, inserted on the disc. Ovary sunken in the disc; style short. Fruit a capsule, 3-5-lobed, angled or winged, rarely echinate, dehiscence loculicidal. Seeds 1-3 in each cell, enclosed in a fleshy aril.