Plants monoec. or dioec. Fls unisexual, us. 5-merous; ovary superior, us. trilocular, with axile placentae; ovules 1-2 per locule, pend.; styles 3, stigmas 3 or 6. Fr. us. splitting into 3 dehiscent cocci, seed with cop. endosperm. Herbs, shrubs, or trees, often with milky sap; lvs alt., opp., or whorled, us. stipulate. Subcosmopolitan family with some 285 genera and over 730 spp.

Monoecious or dioecious herbs, shrubs or trees, sometimes with milky latex. Lvs alternate or opposite, simple or compound, usually stipulate. Infl. a spike, raceme, panicle, cyme, or cluster, or fls solitary (in fls reduced and clustered in a cup-shaped involucre to form the flower-like cyathium). Fls unisexual. Calyx variously lobed, much reduced or 0; petals usually 0, sometimes present and rarely united. ♂ fls often with a rudimentary ovary; stamens 1-1000; filaments free or connate; anthers 2-(4)-locular, erect or inflexed in bud. ♀ fls without staminodes; ovary usually 3-locular; styles free or united; ovules 1-2 per cell, pendulous; disc often present in both sexes. Fr. usually a 3-celled capsule (regma), or rarely a drupe. Seeds often with conspicuous caruncle; endosperm copious; embryo straight.