Annual or perennial herbs, shrubs, small trees or climbers, rarely epiphytes. Leaves simple, usually opposite, sometimes rosulate or verticillate, rarely alternate, sessile or petiolate. Synflorescence usually a corymbose panicle, sometimes spicate. Capitula sessile or distinctly pedunculate, homogamous, discoid, rarely outer florets zygomorphic. Involucre cylindric, campanulate, or hemispheric, phyllaries 1–many–seriate, imbricate–subimbricate, or distant, equal–subequal, or markedly graded, persistent or deciduous, lanceolate or ovate. Receptacle flat to convex, sometimes conical, usually naked, glabrous or rarely pubescent. Florets rarely 1, often 4 or 5 – many per capitulum, commonly fragrant; corolla funnel–like to tubular, white, light yellow, blue or purplish, lobes relatively short, 5, rarely 4. Stamens usually included within corolla tube, apical appendages obtuse or acute, rarely emarginate or lobed, as long as broad or shorter, sometimes absent, basal appendages short or almost absent, obtuse or rounded; filaments indistinct. Styles usually very conspicuous and much exerted, glabrous or rarely pubescent; base glabrous or pubescent, sometimes with a swollen node; style branches linear to clavate, obtuse, stigmatic surfaces papillate. Cypselas obovoid or oblong, usually 3–5 ( or10)–ribbed, rarely flattened, winged or not, sometimes glandular, glabrous or setuliferous; carpopodium often paler than cypselas, rarely indistinct or absent, usually symmetrical, rarely ecentric, annular, cylindric. Pappus mostly uniseriate, rarely biseriate to multi–seriate, mostly persistent, bristles numerous, rarely few, equal or subequal, rarely very short, pappus sometimes absent and reduced to an apical callus, rarely a laciniate crown, or vestigial, occasionally coroniform, flattened scales or awn–like, very rarely of broad, laciniate bristles, or of few clavate apical appendages; bristles commonly barbellate or laciniate, rarely plumose, apices acute or obtuse, usually gradually tapering, sometimes dilated, rarely conspicuously narrowing.
A medium to large sized tribe with about 180 genera and ca. 2,000 species, mostly found in Mexico and Central and South America, with relatively few native to the Old World. Several pantropical weeds are widespread in the Old World. Represented in Pakistan by 3 genera and 5 species.