Plants us. dioec. or polygamodioec.; fls us. 5-merous, regular, bracted, small, in heads or simple to compound umbels. Petals early deciduous; stamens arising from nectariferous disk; anthers dorsifixed, 2-celled, dehiscing lengthwise. Ovary inferior, (1)-2-15-loculed and -styled; placentae axile. Ovules 1 per locule, pend.; fr. baccate. Herbs, shrubs, lianes or trees with us. alt. compound or simple exstipulate lvs. Mainly tropical family with some 65 genera and 800 spp.

Shrubs, trees or climbers, rarely herbs. Lvs usually alternate, rarely opposite, simple and entire to palmately or pinnately compound or lobed; stipules present or 0. Fls ☿ or unisexual, actinomorphic, usually in terminal, rarely axillary umbels, less often in heads, spikes, or racemes, rarely solitary; umbels often in racemes or panicles. Calyx usually not toothed, rarely shallowly 5-toothed. Petals usually 5, sometimes 3-numerous, usually free. Stamens usually as many as petals, rarely more; filaments free; anthers 2-locular. Ovary inferior, rarely 1/2-inferior or superior, 1-many-locular; styles as many as loculi, free or partly connate; ovules usually 1 per loculus, rarely 2, pendulous. Fr. baccate or drupaceous, indehiscent.