Trees or shrubs with opposite, simple leaves; stipules interpetiolar; flowers bisexual, axillary; calyx stiff tubular, 4-16-lobed, valvate; petals the same number as sepals, entire, bifid, or laciniate; stamens usually twice as many as petals, or more; ovary 2-12-celled (rarely 1-celled), styles usually connate; cells 2-ovulate; ovules pendulous; fruit indehiscent, 1-seeded; seed often precociously germinating, the embryonic root emerging. About 17 genera, 80 species, throughout the tropics.