Shrubs or vines; leaves alternate, simple or compound, entire or lobed; often tendrillous; stipules small, caducous; petioles often with glands; flowers regular, bisexual or rarely otherwise; sepals 3-5; petals 3-5 or absent; corona usually present, composed of variously ringed or fringed bodies interposed between petals and stamens; stamens 5 or more, sometimes adnate to gynophore; ovary superior, 1-celled; placentae 3-5, parietal; fruit a berry or capsule; seeds many or few or one, embedded in pulp, enclosed in a gelatinous sheath. 12 genera and over 500 species, tropical or subtropical, many in Tropical America.