Fls bisexual, terminal or axillary, solitary or clustered, pend. Per. deciduous; segs 6, subequal to unequal, free or ± united. Stamens 6, free or shortly attached to tepals; filaments free or partly connate; anthers dorsifixed near base or about middle, introrse, opening by slits. Ovary superior, 1- or 3-locular; ovules ∞ to few, anatropous, rarely half-anatropous. Fr. a berry. Seeds few to ∞, endosperm hard. Shrubs, subshrubs or tall climbers. Lvs alt., oblong to ovate, with reticulate or transverse veining between longitudinal nerves. Entirely Southern Hemisphere, some authors including 7 genera, some only 4.