Succulent-stemmed herbs, occasionally small shrubs. Lvs simple, alternate or opposite, sometimes whorled, exstipulate. Fls solitary or in cymes, very irregular, ☿. Sepals usually 3, sometimes 5, the posterior (lowermost because of pedicel twisting) sepal spurred, enlarged and petaloid. Petals 5 (nearly always appearing as 3 because of union), very often unequal. Stamens 5; filaments short and flattened; anthers connate around ovary. Ovary superior, 5-celled; placentation axile; ovules numerous; stigmas sessile or nearly so, 5-lobed. Fr. usually a succulent capsule opening violently with the 5 valves twisting and coiling, rarely a berry. Seeds non-endospermic.