Fls perfect, regular, or nearly so, us. in bractless racemes; sepals 4, petals 4-(0); stamens us. 6, tetradynamous; anthers 2-(1)-celled. Ovary us. of 2 united carpels divided by a thin membrane into "cells"; stigmas 2, often connate; fr. us. dehiscent. Seeds us. without endosperm; cots accumbent [0= ] incumbent [0|| ] or sts conduplicate [0)) ]. Annual to perennial herbs or subshrubs with mostly alt. exstipulate lvs. Subcosmopolitan with some 350 genera and 2500 spp.

Considerable variation is found in the fr. (Fig. 44). The typical fr. of the Brassicaceae is a 2-valved capsule. When more than 3× as long as broad, this is termed a silique and when less than 3× as long as broad it is termed a silicle. The fr. is divided into 2 locules by a false septum, which is formed as an outgrowth from the 2 placentae, and within each locule the seeds may be in 1, 2 or rarely more rows. In some of the genera in which the fr. is a silique, the base of the style may be conic or expanded above the valved part of the fr. and is then called a beak. Such beaks often contain 1-several seeds (e.g., in spp., Hirschfeldia), but in a few genera (e.g., ) all the seeds are contained in the greatly enlarged beak and the valved part of the fr. Is reduced to a seedless rudiment at the base of the silique. Beaks are not usually present on silicles and are therefore not mentioned in descriptions of genera with silicles. The configuration of the embryo within the seed is often a useful character in the family.