Small shrubs or woody climbers. Leaves alternate or opposite, glabrous. Infl of terminal or axillary cymes. Flowers 5-merous. Calyx-tube not articulated above the ovary. Petals present, small, glandular, arranged in a ring at the base of the calyx lobes. Stamens twice as many as the calyx lobes. Ovary 1-locular. Fruit dry.
Worldwide: 4-5 species in tropical Africa 1 of which occus in Madagascar.